


moral of the story | a ninjago fanfiction

by dommiewrites



Series: 𝙎𝙊𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙃 - ninjago highschool au [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: CoNya, Cole loves cake, Fanfiction, Jaya, Kailor - Freeform, Llorumi, Moral of the story, Ninjago, but like i really mean slowburn, ninjago fanfiction, ninjago highschool, slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:55:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 46
Words: 132,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24921157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dommiewrites/pseuds/dommiewrites
Summary: 𝙈𝙊𝙍𝘼𝙇 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙍𝙔moral of the story [first book in the 𝙎𝙊𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙃 series]Nine teenagers in high school - completely normal, that is, until things around them are getting stranger and stranger. White lies and black secrets are tearing them apart as they learn more and more about their past, future and present. Life is nothing short of an adventure when there’s a twist and turn every metre of life, so Kai Smith, Jay Walker, Astra Harlow, Nya Smith, Pixal Borg, Cole Brookstone, Skylor Chen, Zane Julien and Lloyd Garmadon are in a for a hell of a dangerous ride.The outcome? Well, you’ll just have to see if there even is one.See them through the darkest of times and pray they’ll make the right choices for their lives are on the line.warning: this is not exactly like the tv show, their personalities may differ. swearing and mature themes. it is not required to watch the show to read this fic.
Relationships: Kai/Skylor (Ninjago), Lloyd Garmadon/Harumi, Nya/Cole, Nya/Jay Walker, P.I.X.A.L./Zane (Ninjago)
Series: 𝙎𝙊𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙃 - ninjago highschool au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976005
Comments: 58
Kudos: 86





	1. introduction

✧ _ninjago high's most rag-tag friendship group out there_ ✧

| kai smith |

| nya smith |

| lloyd garmadon |

| zane julien |

| pixal borg |

| cole brookstone |

| jay walker |

| skylor chen |   
  
  


❝ maybe you should shut your mouth and concentrate ❞ 

❝ maybe _you_ should stop blowing stuff up ❞ 

❝ how'd we all end up in detention anyway? ❞ 

❝ i swear to _god_ brookstone, open that and I will - ❞   
  
  
  


𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 

this is the story of ninjago high, specifically of those dubbed the _dorksquad_ by the popular kids (Kai, make up your mind already). there's too many things that could go wrong, too many possibilities and too much to lose.

-

-

-

-

warning: this is not exactly like the tv show, their personalities may differ, and whether they get their powers or not... it remains to be seen. it is not required to watch the show to read this fic. later on there will be swearing, angst, and gory descriptions. if you seen any mention of OC's (mine or anyone else's) they will be credited.

  
  


all rights to the characters go to ninjago, as well as some background stuff. Other stuff such as plot and other things belong to me. please contact me if someone is stealing my works.


	2. introduction

_❝ so i never really knew you ❞_

_— moral of the story, ashe —_

**jay**

Jay wasn't sure as to how _exactly_ he'd manage to wind up in detention. He'd been in here a couple times before, mostly because Kai and Cole had somehow roped him into a few pranks. The detention teacher had left to get coffee, but Jay knew she smoked at the back of the building to 'help her stress'. Pulling out his maths textbook, he sighed, rummaged around his backpack for his pencil case and unzipped it just as the door flew open with a bang. In came Kai, as noisy and as boisterous as ever, tossing the basketball back to Cole, who still had his headphones on and was jamming out to some sort of music.

"Jay?" Kai sounded somewhat surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm in detention you big buffoon," he replied simply, placing his protractor on the graph paper with another sigh.

Cole lifted off one side of his headphones. "How'd you end up here without...us?" his hands gestured towards himself and Kai in confusion.

"I — I'm not sure..." he answered, rubbing out a wonky line.

Kai and Cole stared at him until the latter came to a conclusion.

" _You_ blew up the science lab?"

"I didn't mean to! And how did you know?"

Cole pointed at the chemically stained clothes Jay was still wearing. "Everyone in the school's wondering who did it. Honestly, I'm a bit offended you didn't invite us."

"It was an _accident_." Jay insisted, crumpling his homework with a sigh. He couldn't concentrate.

Kai snatched the ball out of Cole's hands and bounced it distractedly on the floor a few times, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, well, Nya's pissed."

Speaking of the devil, Nya stormed in, followed by a wide-eyed Pixal, clutching a stack of textbooks almost as tall as the girl herself.

"Why did you blow up the lab?" exploded the raven-haired girl, slamming her hands down onto his table.

"I —"

"I was _this_ ," Nya's index finger and thumb were millimetres apart. "Close to finishing my assignment and oh, ho! Someone blew up the science lab."

"How did you find out anyway?" Jay asked, stuffing the rest of his books and work into his bag.

"News travels fast." Kai piped up, waving his phone about.

"You mean your fingers travel fast," Jay muttered under his breath. He zipped up his bag, stood up and made his way to the door when for the _third_ time today, it flew open and Zane and Lloyd tumbled in. The first boy immediately made his way over to Pixal, the second slumping into a nearby chair with a groan.

"My uncle's going to _kill_ me."

Unfortunately for Lloyd, his uncle Wu was the headmaster of their school, and even _more_ unfortunate, he got in almost as much trouble as Kai and Cole. It seemed like Pixal and Zane were total newbies to the detention room, and Jay knew for a fact that Nya, having punched more than her fair share of people was more than welcome here.

"What did you do this time?" Pixal asked, setting down the stack of science textbooks.

"Everyone thinks I blew up the-" Lloyd's phone _pinged_ loudly, and the blond read the notification with a grin. "Never mind, everyone _knows_ Jay blew up the lab."

Jay groaned and sat back down covering his head with his arms face down on the table. Kai snickered from behind him.

"Hey, why don't you tell us how you blew up the lab?" chirped Nya in an overly sweet voice.

"Okay, first of all, it was a mistake, second the chemicals were labelled incorrectly and someone left a burner on and it just progressively got worse with every passing second." gave in Jay, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Everything just went kablooey." he said, miming the last words with his hands to mimic an explosion.

And then for the _fourth_ and hopefully final time, the door to the detention room swung open, and in stepped someone Jay had never seen before.

"Is this detention?" she asked, one hand holding her phone and the other holding a crumpled slip of paper.

"Yeah." sighed the group in unison.

She bobbed her head in thanks, plopped in a seat towards the back of the room and popped in her headphones without another look at them.

"Ow!" cried Kai, holding the side of his face from where Nya had swatted him with a heavy book. "What did you do that for?"

"Stop staring at the new girl." his sister answered, unfazed by her brother's overdramatic yowls of pain.

"I wonder how she got into detention already. It's still the first week of school." mused Jay as the other settled down around him.

**the new girl**

So, being homeschooled wasn't the best preparation for high school, living on a private island with absolutely zero to none interaction with people her age. It was the fourth day of her new highschool, Ninjago High, and she could safely say that she'd avoided trouble for the first three. There had been a surprising number of fights, an even higher number of cliques (not even Mean Girls or High School Musicals could prepare her for that) and a _lot_ of glares.

Considering she'd come pretty late in the year, it made sense, but all the stares made her want a big hole to open up in the floor and swallow her whole. She'd just finished first period, a maths class that had a horrible teacher she'd have to bear with for the rest of the year and was on her way to science when she heard an ear-rupturing 'BANG!' go off in the direction of her classroom. She froze in shock for the first few seconds, and then sprinted over to the charred walls and blasted back door of her science room.

"Excuse me miss," barked a sharp voice. Steeling herself, she swung around to find her maths teacher, who she was _convinced_ was some sort of demon that could track trouble.

"Sorry Mrs Hatfield — I just came here to find the lab —" before she could finish her explanation, the teacher was scribbling away on her well used detention pad (honestly, it was the _fourth_ day of the first week).

"Detention, after school, room D-25 near the art blocks. I advise you that here at Ninjago High we do not tolerate tampering with explosive substances to get out of class." lowering her half moon glasses with a sneer, she continued her lecture, "I hope that this will not reflect your studies in maths."

She muttered something in response, took the bright pink slip and stuffed it into her backpack with a nasty scowl. Not even the first week. Her dad was going to be so disappointed in her.

"Students in Mr Jones' science class for period two, please move to classroom S-4." instructed a voice over the loudspeaker.

She sighed and pushed through the now moving crowd, head down and face burning with shame. Maybe if she tore up the stupid pink slip it would go away. Eventually, she arrived at S-4 and slipped inside the half-full classroom, moving to the back and taking a seat there. All the classrooms at Ninjago High smelled like jasmine weirdly enough, like they spent every spare moment wafting the unique smelling through the corridors.

And that was how she got her first ever detention.

**pixal**

Nya didn't even _have_ detention, but that was no excuse for her to barge into the classroom and demand Jay to explain their blown up classroom. She'd dragged Pixal along despite her many protests, leaving Pixal to lug around their books and hope that Nya wouldn't punch Jay. They were _very_ close, to finishing an assignment that should have earned them full marks, but Jay accidentally exploding the classroom as they were trying to sneak in and out before second period set them back.

She hurried along behind the huffing girl, apologising as Nya shoved her way through the crowd, with furious expression even Kai would cower at. Pixal nearly tripped over a shoe, managed to keep the tall stack of books in place and burst into the detention room after Nya. Seconds after Zane and Lloyd's entrance, a new girl, one Pixal's uncannily good photographic memory could not recognise, came in much to the boy Smith's interest. Studiously, the newcomer sat down in the back, ignored the babbling group of her friends and started working on english homework Pixal had as well.

Pixal sighed and sank into a chair, the others doing the same as they peppered Jay with questions. To be honest, she didn't mind ending up in detention-she had nothing else to do after school and she'd finished her homework last free period. She squeezed Zane's hand reassuringly, and her boyfriend smiled nervously back at her. Neither of them had been in D-25 before, steered clear of the kids who normally spent a lot of their time there, but it was _very_ hard when you were friends with Kai, Lloyd and Cole.

What _she_ found strange was the members of their friend group. From Kai, the most popular boy in their school who split his time between the popular kids, and their little group, to his sister Nya who was the exact opposite, keeping to the people she could trust and had a temper to rival her brother's. Cole, the ever calm somehow keeping his passion for music and working out like three times a day. Lloyd, nephew to the headmaster, determined to cause as much trouble as possible and then whine about getting caught. Zane, who was bored in every class and started taking over from the teacher, who was the smartest boy in school and could roast you into oblivion with his deadpan sense of humour.

Jay Walker, president of the STEAM club, their official worry pants with a knack of getting dragged into trouble and inventing whenever he could. Now that she was thinking about it, Lloyd probably hooked Zane along with him when he was accused of blowing up the lab and hauled him off to detention. Kai and Cole probably managed to get up to a thousand shenanigans on the way to detention before they'd even received the looming pink slip.

"Did y'all just multiply in the two minutes I've been gone?" announced the detention teacher, walking back into the room faintly smelling of smoke.

"You've been gone for ten minutes Mrs Jatezski." Jay sighed yet again.

"Who's the one in the back?"

The new girl didn't look up from where she was listening to her music and doing her english homework.

"I said, _who's the one in the back_?" repeated Mrs Jatezski in a firmer tone.

Kai took the opportunity to sidle up to the newcomer, tap her on the shoulder and point to the fuming teacher. "She wants to know your name." After a short pause, he grinned cheekily and added "I wouldn't mind knowing either."

Jay's eraser flew across the room, courtesy of Nya, and nailed Kai in the back of the head.

"Hey!"

The new girl looked at them with wide eyes, one earbud out. "Oh, I'm Skylor. Skylor Chen."


	3. [2] Well, now we can't have popcorn

**nya**

The name ‘Chen’ was one familiar to her, she just couldn’t  _ place  _ it.

“Chen, as in Master Chen’s Noodle House?” asked Cole gleefully.

Skylor nodded cautiously, pulling out her other earbud and dropping the wired headphones into her bag. At her confirmation, the muscular boy ran over to the girl and gave her a big bear hug. Skylor’s sharp intake of breath and surprise was slightly amusing. The girl obviously hadn’t heard of Cole’s legendary bear hugs. For someone who spent so much time eating, then working out, making mixtapes and sleeping in a constant cycle, Cole gave the best hugs in the group.

“Air,” wheezed the red head. Cole dropped her to the ground, placing both hands on her shoulders with the most serious expression Nya thought he’d ever made.

“How long is the all-you-can-eat deal going on for? It’s supposed to be a secret but…” he raised an eyebrow hopefully, and Chen chuckled.

“This Saturday. Whoever’s the last to eat while the deal’s on gets a week’s worth of lunches free.” Skylor tucked a strand of wine-red hair behind her ear and shook Cole’s hand teasingly. “Pleasure doing business with you. I’d need something in exchange though, as well as your word that you won’t tell my dad.”

“You can eat lunch with us tomorrow!” offered Kai, popping up behind Cole like a Jack-In-A-Box except with ridiculously spiky hair.

Nya scoffed and crossed her arms. “Oh so  _ tomorrow  _ you deign it upon yourself to come sit with us at lunch.”

At Skylor’s confused face, she explained simply “My brother can’t decide for the life of him whether he would rather hang out with the popular kids or us. So he decided to split his time and that means he doesn’t eat lunch with us.  _ Normally _ .”

Kai rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand with a devilish smile. “Kai Smith. And the grumpy lady over there would be my sister, Nya.”

“Cole Brookstone.”

Jay wound his scarf around his neck with a welcoming smile, “Jay Walker.”

“Zane Julien.”

“Pixal Borg.”

“Lloyd Garmadon.” Skylor’s eyebrows raised in recognition of the name, but Chen kept her mouth shut.

“Can you kids quit jabbering and just  _ leave _ ?” said Mrs Jatezski, already packing up her bags.

Nya laughed, hooked her arms with Pixal’s and Skylor’s, dragging the two girls out of the classroom.

“Did you not have a student guide to show you around the first week?” asked Pixal, brows furrowed.

Skylor snickered, pocketing her phone. “Yeah. Some girl named Harumi. She dropped me off at my first class with a Grammy-worthy smile and skipped off. Never saw her again.”

Nya laughed, rolling her eyes. “I’m surprised Harumi even volunteered.”

“She said something about student points?” mentioned the red head.

Pixal gasped softly in recognition of the prestigious award. “Every year, the student with a certain amount of points gets a fancy award and with that a three day trip for up to ten people to anywhere in the world. But you need a crazy amount of points to get the award, and you need perfect grades, good attendance and so many other conditions some students don’t bother trying.”

Nya led the two other girls out of the school, stopping by the big glass front doors. “I’ll see you tomorrow Pix for the project before school, yeah?” At the girl’s nod, Nya smiled. “And we’ll see you at break tomorrow Skylor.”

After exchanging numbers, the three went their separate ways. Skylor claimed someone from her dad’s work was coming to pick her up, Pixal was already dashing for the train and Nya just had to walk around the block. Kai hadn’t made it home yet, he was probably hanging around outside school before heading for practice. She unlocked the door and sighed, kicking one of her brother’s many football shoes out of the way. Nya and Kai’s parents worked away from home a  _ lot  _ and she couldn’t blame them, their jobs were time-consuming but they always tried to be home for birthdays and Christmas.

It was more than she could ask for, anyway.

She kicked her shoes off and padded to the wooden-floor kitchen in only her socks. Nya dumped her school bag on a barstool and made her way to the fridge, welcoming the cold air as she pulled out a soda can and shut the door with her foot. She cast a wary eye at the dirty breakfast dishes in the sink, scribbled on a sticky note and stuck the cheery yellow memo to the faucet. She and Kai (well, mostly her) tried to keep the house tidy in case their mum or dad came in and it  _ was  _ useful that once a week a maid cleaned the house from top to bottom.

It was no secret their parents were well off, and by extension, it meant them too, so it made sense for the siblings to live in a three-story house with a backyard and pool and access to a private beach down the road. Nya, unlike Kai, liked to keep their wealth on the down-low and to their little friendship group but her brother had parties almost every weekend after games. He played almost every type of sport, so there were a  _ lot  _ of parties and a  _ lot  _ of cleaning up. Luckily, her parents had purchased the house nearby school, which happened to be not far off from a stretch of beach which they owned. No more than a ten-minute walk to school, the Smith siblings rarely drove there at all. 

She sat down at the kitchen table with a sigh and pulled out her  _ huge  _ stack of homework, opening up her laptop to connect her headphones and start on the massive pile of homework looming ahead of her. Jazzy tunes playing and two hours later, the door banged open, something even her music couldn’t drown out. Just finished with her homework, she neatly filed away the completed sheets and test notes.

“Who’s there?” she yelled from the kitchen.

“I’m here to kill you.” growled a deep voice.

Her hand immediately went to the wooden chopping block that held all their knives and grasped the handle of the biggest. She heard footsteps clumping towards her, and gripping the knife tightly in her hands she prepared to throw it when a familiar head of spiky gelled hair appeared around the corner.

“You actually fell for that?” laughed her brother, shucking off his shoes.

“Why are you all wet?” she chose to ignore his words and wrinkle her nose at his drenched attire.

“It’s been raining for the last hour.” he frowned, peeling off his shirt to drop it on the floor. 

Nya looked outside to find rain pouring down onto their front lawn relentlessly, leaving a grey haze of blurry water. “I didn’t notice,” she stated the obvious. “I’ll cook tonight. Looks like the storm will last a couple of hours. And god, please put on a shirt.”

Kai patted his abs with a proud grin. “I’m gonna take a shower.” Then he turned on his heel and marched up the stairs, leaving a trail of wet footsteps behind him.

Nya turned to fill a pot up with water on their electric stovetop and sprinkled some salt in and set it to boil. She knew how to make three things exactly without burning them: pasta with tomato sauce, toast, and bacon and eggs. The sauce was store-bought of course, so she rifled through the pantry to find one of many random bottles of marinara sauce, and spiral-shaped pasta (Kai insisted they eat those). While waiting for the pasta to cook, she scrolled through Instagram mindlessly, liking her friend’s posts, Cole pre-workout, Pixal and Zane at the former’s house, Jay with his latest inventions and Lloyd at some comic book store.

The storm roared outside, the rain gushing down harder than ever, she couldn’t even  _ see  _ across the street. When the pasta was finally cooked, she tossed it in a new pot with the warmed up marinara sauce and yelled for Kai to come down. The two of them ate dinner in amiable silence, passing the big bowl of pasta and frozen, oven made garlic bread. With plans to make microwave popcorn and watch a movie, she stood up to wash up, and the power went out.

**cole**

Cole was midway through his third match with Harry247_Zebra when all the lights in his house died out. Then, his TV followed, the heater and the churning of the washing machine stopped. He stood up and walked to the window, peering through the curtains and the rain. The street lights were out too. Immediately, his hand went to his phone which was thankfully on fifty percent. Most of the time it was dead. First, he typed out a message to his dad, who was out performing at some concert way out of town. With no response, he moved to his friend’s group chat. Name courtesy of one Jay Walker after too many hours on TikTok.

**_(from the very generous author, here’s a quick guide for contact names, and to make it easier everyone will have the same contacts on everyone’s phones unless it changes :)._ **

  * **_Kai: kai the fry_**


  * Nya: punchy girl


  * Cole: music man


  * Zane: brains of the operation


  * Pixal: cool, calm and collected


  * Jay: i put da muffins in da freezer


  * Lloyd: lil green bean


  * Skylor: noodle lady



- **who in the hell put da muffins in da freezer** -

**_You are typing…_ **

**Me:** _ yo anyone elses power just go out? _

**punchy girl:** _ yeah all power in our house is down _

**kai the fry:** _ I DIDNT GET TO EAT POPCORN _

**brains of the operation :** _ pixal’s house is out too. It’s a city wide power outage. In cases such as these we have been advised to wait at home until power comes back on. And don’t open the fridge. _

**Me:** I. HAD. CAKE. IN. THERE.

_ punchy girl added an: unknown number _

**punchy girl:** _ this is skylor’s number. Welcome to the crackheads, chen _

**i put da muffins in da freezer:** _ uh, i thought we agreed we’d be called the super-badass-flaming-ninja? _

**noodle lady:** _ my house is out too. My father is going ballistic. _

**lil green bean:** _ none of my calls are going through to my mother _

**cool, calm and collected:** _ yes sometimes in power outages that can happen. I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow if power comes back on. _

It turns out, that exactly an  _ hour  _ before cancelled school was  _ supposed  _ to start, power came back on.


	4. [3] Who's the poncy prick now?

**lloyd**

Lloyd wanted to give his uncle a good ol’ slap in the face. His last-minute decision as headmaster to have school  _ continue  _ for the day, when he and his friends had already planned an epic afternoon and morning. 

“I still don’t see  _ why _ ,” he grumbled to his mother as they locked the apartment door behind them. Most of the power in Ninjago had come back on, and oh so luckily for him, the school was back too.

“Your uncle just wants what’s best for your education. For all of you.” his mother reasoned, retying the green scarf she always wore. “And you’ve skived off plenty of times Lloyd.”

“But  _ still _ .” he insisted, hopping into the front seat of their beat-up Toyota. “We could just have the day off!”

The pair spent the thirty minute ride through traffic half-heartedly arguing as to why school should or shouldn’t be cancelled. When his mother pulled up to the steps of Ninjago High, he leant over and hugged her tightly, forgetting their argument already.

“You’re staying after school?” Misako confirmed with worried eyes as her parental instincts kicked in.

“Yeah, just for a little bit. I have my phone, and  _ yes  _ find my phone is on.” Lloyd reassured her, closing the car door. “Love you.”

“Love you too Lloydie-bear.”

“ _ Mum _ .” he groaned, spinning around to find Nya grinning madly.

“Lloydie-bear?” she chortled. Lloyd rolled his eyes pushed her ahead of him so he could walk to the entrance.

“Are we going to Chen’s Noodle House after school or tomorrow?” he asked, toying with the green strings of his hoodie.

“Tomorrow,” entered a familiar voice. Cole walked beside Nya to Lloyd’s left, headphones around his neck. “That’s when the deal ends and we  _ will  _ be the last to eat.”

The three of them laughed as they pushed their way through the crowd to get to their lockers. Somehow, they managed to wrangle lockers next to each other in a practically abandoned corridor, namely because the library was around the corner and nobody went that way. An extraordinary discovery on the part of Cole and Lloyd. On the furthest end, closest to the library was Zane, followed by Pixal and then Nya, Jay, Cole, Lloyd, an empty locker, and then Kai. He was busy putting away his homework folders and textbooks that must have weighed about ten kilos each when someone stumbled into him.

“Oh, hi Skylor.” he greeted, his mood still dampened by the continuation of school.

“Wish the power outage had lasted longer too?” she grinned, a backpack slung on one shoulder and a lock-in one hand. “I am in the right place?”

“Yeah, locker eighty-three is next to mine.” after a short pause, he asked his next question. “How come you’re moving lockers?”

With a sigh, Skylor struggled with her lock for a few seconds and then it popped open. “The principal came and told me that someone needed my locker for extra space.”

Lloyd scoffed in response and locked his lock, narrowly missing locking in his fingers as well. Skylor was placing her books on the top shelf when a red blurry figure fell back into her.

“Oh sh—” Kai stood up and handed her the fallen book. “Sorry about that.” he smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Skylor mumbled something incomprehensible under breath, climbed out of where she had been pushed into her locker awkwardly, and cursed loudly as she looked at her locker. Lloyd stood on his toes to peer in to find that the back of her locker had disappeared. What was even  _ more  _ curious was the faint outline of a room behind the wall. All eight of the lockers were pushed up against the wall and drilled in with metal sheets as the backing.

“What is that?” she asked as Cole and Nya came to get a look at the mysterious room. Even in the darkness, he could tell it was huge.

“I dunno,” Kai said, then he reconsidered and added, “I’m going in there.”

He moved to push Skylor out of the way gently, but the girl remained steadfast looking into the darkness. She pulled out her phone and shone the flashlight into the space. His earlier thoughts were confirmed. It looked as if the walls were concrete and smooth grey, cobwebs hanging in the darker corners and  _ another  _ door towards the back.

“Secret hangout spot!” cheered Cole excitedly, shouldering his way to the front to climb through Skylor’s locker.

“Woah there Mister Explorer,” she warned, standing in front of the locker with crossed arms. “I’m not going in there just yet.”

Cole, Kai and Lloyd whined in annoyance. Despite its mysterious appearance, Lloyd was very much interested in exploring the room and the other door. 

“After school,” Skylor promised, closing and locking the door with a click of authority. “And we’ll check out this secret room.”

Lloyd groaned loudly and picked up his books. “But the  _ temptation _ .”

“Unless you know my locker code, you aren’t going in there,” Skylor said, turning to Kai. “Don’t try to watch me do it either you creep.”

“Hey!”

Skylor was in a completely different homeroom to him so Lloyd couldn’t pester her to let him investigate earlier. Luckily, Zane was with him so they headed off to the science classroom they spent fifteen minutes of each day in.

“All I’m saying is that we might not have to wait until after school,” Lloyd said, dropping his bag to the ground as they sat down.

“What are you going to do then? Break into her locker by using a metal cutting laser machine and cut the door out?” Zane replied dryly.

Lloyd was actually considering going to the metalworking classroom and stealing the exact machine he’d need when his homeroom teacher interrupted his scheming.

“Okay kids, I’m sure you all know about the power outage last night. Principal Wu is sure that it won’t happen again today but he does want everyone to be careful with electrical and power lines if you manage to come across them. Now, everyone knows that the Environmental…”

Lloyd zoned out after she spoke on his uncle’s announcement, taking to doodling on a square sticky note with a cheap ballpoint pen he’d stolen from Nya. Now Lloyd was nowhere near an artist but he could draw one thing fairly well, and that was how he ended with a bunch of sunflowers on the yellow sticky note. 

“Off you go then.” sighed Mrs Katell, putting her head in her hands. Lloyd thought she probably wanted the day off too.

When he walked into his English classroom he was surprised to find Skylor in the back row with her headphones in, and Cole demanding something in a hushed voice. Cole was in his class usually, so he guessed if he had looked into the back row and he would have found Skylor all of earlier this week. He slid into the seat next to Cole in the back row-normally he sat further up to avoid the gossiping back girls

“Look, it  _ sounds  _ cool in theory, therefore it will be cool!” Cole reasoned to Skylor, who had a slightly bemused smile dancing on her face.

“Tell me, how exactly are we going to fit a mini fridge through my locker?” Cole opened his mouth goldfish like to answer, but the redhead continued “How is it supposed to run? And, I want the place clean first if we’re going to hang out in there.”

Cole wrinkled his nose as if hygiene wasn’t a problem, but then Chen added “There could be spiders. Snakes. Rats. Who knows what could be living in there.” The boy shuddered and then turned to Lloyd.

“You reckon we can squish a couch through or just beanbags?”

Lloyd thought about it for a moment. “Bean bags. They’ll be easier to clean anyway.”

“Listen up! I’m handing out your pop quiz sheets now…” Lloyd groaned and fumbled around his pencil case for a pen. This was going to be a  _ long  _ day.

He was correct, unfortunately. English and History dragged by like a sloth up a tree, both with horrible pop quizzes he hadn’t studied for, but luckily didn’t count towards his grade. At break, Kai, Lloyd, Cole, Nya and Zane hurried over to their usual table to stumble over each other’s words and tell Jay about their discovery. It went something like:

“ _ Locker  _ —”

“The back just disappeared —”

“And then woosh, the magic fairies came?”

“Shut up. Anyway, we —”

“It was a room and it was dark —”

“And the Skylor used her phone and it was like —”

“Woooaaaaaah ‘cause it’s huge, you see?”

“But she won’t let us go in until after school —”

“Makes sense you poncy prick —”

And then he had to slug through Science and Maths, one after the other and tottered into lunch with his head pounding relentlessly. 

“Stupid fractions.” he muttered darkly, plopping down next to Jay.

What felt like two minutes later but really was thirty, they were up and at it again as he made his way for art and sports. The former subject was something he mildly enjoyed-they’d had to pick electives earlier in the year and he hadn’t been paying proper attention, but he’d managed to incorporate sunflowers into the majority of his projects so at least something looked good. Sport was bearable, at least. Lloyd was fairly fit and liked to keep it that way, so their basketball unit was a breeze for him. Hair dripping with water from a quick shower, he sprinted around the corner, taking the shortcut to the lockers past the library when he ran smack bang into someone.

“Oh, sorry —” but he was cut off short when he realised exactly  _ who  _ he’d run into.

“Harumi.”

“Garmadon.”

And then she skipped away, her stark white hair swinging behind her. Lloyd found his eyes watch her round the corner, his stomach  _ feeling  _ something it shouldn’t be. He shook himself out of the daze and remembered he was supposed to meet at Skylor’s locker. There, he discovered the rest of his friends, very disgruntled at his late timing. Cole somehow had gotten his hands on bug spray, Kai was holding three torches and for some reason, Jay had a coil of rope in his hands. Lloyd decided not to ask why. All of their bags had been dumped in a circle around their lockers, almost like a protective semi-ring incase they got cursed inside the room.

Skylor opened her locker and took a torch from Kai, banging the end with her hand until the light stopped flickering uncontrollably. “Where did you get these?”

When the spiky-headed boy didn’t respond, Lloyd knew better. Whenever Kai got something shifty it was because it came from somewhere shifty. Skylor ducked as she crouched inside the locker gracefully, and a second later, she stepped into the darkness.


	5. [4] Kai is definitely /not/ afraid of the dark

**skylor**

The first thing she noticed was that it  _ smelt  _ damp. Somehow. A chill quickly overtook her body and she shivered involuntarily as she less-than gracefully clambered into the other room and shone her torch around it. Her first thought was that it was absolutely  _ huge.  _ From one wall to the opposite it was easily twenty, maybe more steps and was a perfect square. Right now, that was the only admirable quality it possessed. She wrinkled her nose as something scuttled around in a dark corner and Cole shrieked, spraying the nozzle of his Bug-Away until they were all choking on the toxic fumes.

“Put it away before we all choke and die horrible, bug spray induced deaths,” Kai ordered, trying to shelter his hair as if the spray would wilt it from it’s stuck up fashion.

Cole huffed and put the bottle away. 

With the two other torches and the help of phone flashlights, they managed to light up most of the room, discovering the  _ insanely  _ high ceiling with an old wooden trapdoor.

“What’s above us?” she wondered upload, spinning around the room.

“That empty room, with the tiny window,” Lloyd realised. “The one that everyone thought the janitor was hiding dead bodies in.”

“What if he  _ is  _ actually hiding bodies there and he lures students in here and then  _ whack! _ ” Jay whispered hurriedly in a hushed voice, his eyes wide. “What if we’re  _ next _ ?”

“Oh shut up,” Nya said playfully, though her hand circled around the nervous boy’s wrist comfortingly.

“I think we can do this,” she said suddenly in their silence. “We’ll just have to figure out excuses as to why we’re all disappearing into my locker.” the others nodded in agreement.

“My uncle,” Lloyd pointedly avoided the fact he was the principal, “Was planning on throwing out some of the old beanbags from the library but they’re perfectly fine, so I’ll just steal them over the next few days.”

Jay was peering around the room and fiddling with an extremely old power outlet. “I can probably fix this up. Zane, come take a look at this…”

She didn’t catch the rest of what Jay was saying, because Cole whooped loudly and his bug spray clattered to the ground, “Yes! Mini fridge time!”

She rolled her eyes with a light laugh and found Kai staring at her. Their eyes met for a brief second, and then he cleared his throat and clapped Jay on the back.

“You reckon there’s enough power for a TV and a mini-fridge?”

Skylor wanted to object and ask them again  _ how  _ exactly they were planning to shove a fridge and TV through her narrow locker but decided to let them continue. For the next ten minutes, the eight of them jumped in and out of conversation on how they’d convert this mysterious room into a hangout, adding different ideas that increasingly got madder and madder.

“Alright, I gotta go. Clouse will be here in five minutes.” Skylor remembered, checking her phone for the time.

The seven others popped out the other side of her locker, and she fastened the lock securely, patting it just to reassure herself.  _ It’s our secret,  _ she replayed Jay’s earlier words. With a funny feeling in her stomach, she walked to the entrance and waited for Clouse.  _ Friends,  _ she thought firmly to herself. But as she got into the limo, she was wondering if they were only friends because of the secret locker room.

**kai**

He wasn’t sure what to do. He’d been standing in the shower nearly forty-five minutes now and his fingers resembled prunes, but where else was he supposed to figure the mystery of Skylor Chen? He let the hot water continue to run down his back in warm rivulets as he sighed in exasperation. The girl just showed up to the detention like it was nothing, he hadn’t even  _ seen  _ her all of the first week and he made a point to know every student in the school. And the way she carried herself-confident, but like she was prepared to fight her way out of any situation or sink into the ground plain  _ confused  _ him.

And what was even  _ more  _ confusing was the fact that he didn’t know where she fit. There were the girls he didn’t really talk to, the girls which he  _ had  _ to talk to, the girls he flirted with (well, he flirted with anyone or anything, really), and the girls he ignored like the horse girls ‘cause they creeped him out. The problem was, Skylor didn’t fit in any of those. That was what Kai was troubled by, and his brain was getting pretty tired already from racking all of his thoughts and reasonings. Conclusion: Skylor Chen was different. And not, his sister Nya, different who fit in with every crowd, but  _ different,  _ different.

It also didn’t help that she seemed content with ignoring him, it didn’t help that he’d accidentally shoved her into her locker, and it didn’t help that his brain turned into mush whenever he was around her. Frowning, he got out of the shower and wrapped a towel over his waist, leaving a trail of water Nya would be sure to chastise him about on the way to his room. After changing and getting ready to procrastinate homework, he decided the best way to avoid studying would be to find his own contribution for the secret room. 

Their basement was huge and full of useless junk their dad either built or bought, and some boxes from their old house. He approached the door to the basement and paused, his hand on the doorknob. 

It was  _ very  _ dark down there. 

No, Kai wasn’t afraid. He just…wished the light switch had been installed at the top of the stairs instead of the bottom. It was either Maths or this. So, he gathered up his courage, chickened out three times and then opened the door with one hand over his eyes. 

Peeking between his fingers, all he could see were the concrete steps going down, a wooden railing on the left and complete and utter darkness below.  _ You got this Kai,  _ he said, hyping himself up,  _ Just go down there in the complete dark with no idea what things live in there because you’re too scared-  _ he walked forwards before his brain could give him any more self-deprecating comments and prayed to the basement gods. 

_ Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasedon’tkillmebasementanimals.  _

He managed to get halfway down on shaky feet and wobbly knees, god, if his friends saw him like that he would never live it down.

_ Hisss. _

He jerked his head up and span around wildly on the step. What. Was. That?

_ Hissssssssssss. _

“NYA WHAT THE FUCK IS HISSING?”

_ Hissssssssssssssssss.  _ It seemed to be coming from all around when suddenly it got louder and slower, accompanied by a steady rattling.

“FUCK.” he leapt down the remaining stairs, tripped over nothing and then proceeded to somersault down fifteen steps into complete darkness, crashed into the cold, hard concrete floor while screaming and cussing at the top of his lungs. When he finally got to the bottom, he laid there in a frozen, shocked heap for a second and then slapped his hands blindly on the wall until he hit the light switch. He collapsed with a sigh on the bottom step when he heard Nya’s voice echo down.

“I was making popcorn and the microwave went all weird. Are you…okay?”

“Fine.” he yelled back, gazing at the messy contents of the basement. “Just fine.”

Groaning and wincing at his soon to be blooming bruises, he gingerly peeled himself off the step and began prowling around the rows of shelves piled to the ceiling with random junk. He found their own blow up bouncy castle waiting to burst out the packaging (he swears the companies used magic to get it in there in the first place), a very rusty, antique sword in a glass case, a set of golf clubs gathering dust, and a full sized Santa in the corner which he nearly impaled with the sword. 

“C’mon, there’s got to be  _ something  _ cool in here.” he complained to himself, wading through a sea of black garbage bags holding childhood plushies and soft toys. In the back corner, he could just make out the faint outline of some blocky shape. He crept closer, to find the bulky object was covered in a white, now fading to a yucky yellow sheet. In a dramatic gesture, he leapt forwards and yanked the sheet off, stirring years off dust to bloom into a gigantic cloud. He choked and waved the sheet around to disperse the dust, still hacking out the dust when the rest finally settled on the floor.

And as he looked up, his green eyes widened.

“No. Fucking.  _ Way _ .”


	6. [5] The Great Noodle Empire

**skylor**

Skylor Chen sometimes wished her father didn’t own a grand noodle empire. She _also_ wished that she’d gone to a proper school instead of being homeschooled for most of her life because she didn’t know what to _do_. With friends, specifically. In the back of the family limo with Clouse at the helm, she kept sulkily quiet whilst scrolling through Instagram.

“Miss Chen?”

Her head snapped up to Clouse tweaking the rearview mirror, showing his dark eyes filled with concern.

“How was school?”

“Clouse, I’ve known you all my life. Just call me Skylor.” she wrinkled her nose at a weird ad on her feed. “School was fine.”

Clouse raised an eyebrow as they turned a corner smoothly. “Really?”

“ _Yes_.”

He didn’t seem convinced, but turned the mirror back to help him weave through traffic. Skylor frowned to herself, swiping through Instagram stories with a sore thumb growing sorer by every story slide. _Congrats Bethany, but why do I need eighty-four pictures of you at one am in the morning looking like the devil?_ The car bumped over a lump in the road as they swerved into her road. Yes, her _road_. Her father had decided to buy the entire length of Lily Avenue, because he was extra like that. At first look, Lily Avenue was completely ordinary and strictly lined up. At second glance, you started noticing the little things, like the popcorn machine hidden behind a freshly trimmed hedge, the old magician’s cloak stuck on the lamppost, the scorch on the asphalt leading to the movie house from where they’d tried to make their own fireworks.

Skylor loved her dad despite his enigmatic behaviour and ways, and the fact he always tried to make an effort to spend time with her. A couple years back, Chen’s Noodle House was a small business with three shops struggling to make profit before they ran into bankruptcy. And then her dad had made a pivotal investment and a few changes, and suddenly they were living the rich life.

_If only you were here to see this mum._

Skylor’s mother would have insisted her father to settle down for once, put down the phone and not run off coffee. Her father had thought it obvious, since he and his daughter were both too lazy to walk up and down the street to get where they needed, to purchase golf carts to zip around in. Clouse dropped her off at one of the parking lots and gave her orders to see her father, so Skylor dropped her bag on the ivory leather seat and turned on the engine of the golf cart. Her first few experiences driving had been...less than good, but she got the hang of it pretty easily after that. Skylor set off for her father’s office house with music streaming through her headphones in a perfectly good mood, her troubles brushed aside.

She swerved up just beside the curb and left her bag on the seat. Security wouldn’t let anyone through. At the door, she knocked and waited, examining the Chen office. It consisted of three floors, his _home_ office. The top was his study, the second for meetings and the bottom of a mix of a living room and reception.

“Come in Sky-Sky!”

She kept her groan internal, pushing open the unlocked door to find her dad balancing eight cups of coffee in his hands. She darted forwards to take half, almost gagging at the intense bitterness wafting from the paper cups.

“Dad, you shouldn’t—”

“It’s fine, daughter dear, now I need help, there’s this logo…”

Her father’s voice was carried away as he stomped up the stairwell. Skylor happily obliged, ready to spend time with her father she so rarely got. When she arrived in his office, it was a mess of coffee cups, paper and random bits and unexplainable bobs. She kicked aside a blow up beach ball and placed the coffee down on her father’s desk. He skipped over to the A-frame stand and tapped at the glossy logo printed on the paper. _Chen’s Garden Tools._

Her father had been expanding the business rapidly over the years, determined to get a foothold in every industry possible, and that was the most reasonable explanation as to why he had coffee in his veins twenty-four seven. She slipped into her easy business attitude, offering snippets of advice for her father, ideas to tweak and a suggestion to _get some darn sleep._

“Off you go, Sky-Sky. I’ll meet you for dinner.”

“Bye dad.” she replied quietly, hugging him around the middle tightly.

She parked in the assigned spot outside her house as a chill settled on Ninjago City. She unlocked her door and stepped inside. Her room, well, _house_ , was only two levels and more of a tiny home. Skylor walked through the small living room and dropped her backpack on the couch, switching on the TV and letting her hair fall loose on her shoulders. With the news playing in the background, Skylor fixed herself a plate of extremely unhealthy snacks and plopped down on the sofa.

“We’re interviewing the Mayor’s daughter, right here, we are with Harumi Brassard.” The camera panned over to a disinterested teen on her phone, who Skylor recognised as her ditched guide.

_Little bi-_

“Harumi is a student at Ninjago High, known by all as kind and generous and head of the cheerleading team. Harumi, on your father’s possible re-election—”

Harumi flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked to the camera with a well practiced snooty smile. Skylor switched to watch Adventure Time because that show was deeper than Harumi’s shallow self. When her phone buzzed at four thirty, she dragged herself off the couch and up the tiny spiraling staircase to her attic-converted bedroom ensuite to change into comfier clothes. Then she had to flop downstairs again to go to her study and work through a massive pile of homework. Just as she was about to finish off for the day and go for a run, her phone vibrated itself off the table and fell to the floor.

- **who in the hell put da muffins in da freezer** -

**kai the fry:** _BROOO LOOK WHAT I JUST FOUND_

_attached: image_

Skylor opened it up and held back a giggle at the selfie of a red-eyed Kai in the dark pointing at an old arcade game.

**brains of the operation:** _what exactly is that?_

**music man:** _UMMMM HELLLLOOO ITS A FRITZ DONNEGAN GAME_

**i put da muffins in da freezer:** _KAI THATS AN UNRELEASED GANE HOW DOD YOU GET THAT SINSJSBSHABSB_

**punchy girl:** _is this why you fell down the stairs_

**kai the fry:** _IT WAS MY DADS I THINK IDK_

**Me:** _and what exactly is the drama about this?_

**i put da muffins in da freezer:** _it’s an unreleased game based off the first, and epicest fritz donnegan movie E V E R_

**Me:** _coolio_

**Kai the fry:** _anyway i think we should put it in th eroom. It looks like its in pretty good condition_

Once again, she was met with the problem of _how_ they would fit a bulky game through her locker, so she dropped her phone with a sigh and got ready for her evening run.

**zane**

Zane watched the events of that afternoon playout through his phone, noting the extreme excitement of Cole and Jay, followed closely by Kai and Lloyd. He did, in fact, know of the origins of this arcade game, though it was suspicious as to how exactly Kai’s father got his hands on the only copy known to the public. Apparently, through some quick searches on his laptop, it disappeared after Fritz decided to end production and took it with him. Wherever he went, because it was a mystery to all of Ninjago as to where Fritz Donnegan had escaped to after all these years.

His father walked into the kitchen in a slightly ditzy mood, one Zane recognised as his after-invention success bliss, so he started to get dinner ready. As per usual, his father would get caught up in his work and forget to eat or drink anything but caffeinated tea, and Zane _knew_ that tea was better than coffee, but by the inhumane amounts his father chugged to pull all-nighters, it couldn’t be anything good. A simple meal, dumplings with breakfast codfish and _water_.

“Goodnight father.”

“Night Zane.”

His father distractedly one-arm hugged him, and Zane moved to his room, already showered and ready for bed. He climbed in, sensing the chill run over his body as the moon bathed in it’s own soft light.

**A/N: hey yall i just wanted to say any spelling errors in text messages are purely intentional :)**


	7. [6] Free noodles, am I right?

**cole**

Nothing would keep him from his noodles. It also helped that Skylor had given him a heads up and enough time to plan out what to do. He checked his phone for the third time in two minutes, expectantly tapping a sneakered-foot on the ground with a slight frown on his face. Where _was_ Pixal? It wasn’t that hard to show up on time, was it? He decided to go into the branch of Chen’s they’d agreed to meet in and get a table. Open hours lasted from seven thirty to twelve, meaning, they’d need to be the very last customers while the shop was open in case Chen ended it at midnight. With the knowledge of the _day_ that the deal was ending, but not the time, at least one of them would have to be in the restaurant during the whole span of the business hours. He’d crossed out the first few hours because Chen would choose the last person when there was absolutely no one in the store, but that was when the eight of them came into play. 

Ten thirty to midnight was exactly thirteen and a half hours. One hour and forty two minutes each on a shift to eat at Chens. That was before he’d convinced those with parents to drag them in. Nya and Kai’s parents were out of town as always, Ed and Edna were free, as was Dr Julien (Zane insisted his father needed the food), Lloyd’s mother, Misako was spending her lunch break from the museum there, Skylor’s father _ran_ the business, so that was a no go, Mr Borg was too busy developing the latest tech, and well, Cole’s father was not available.

Probably performing somewhere.

His phone buzzed and he immediately unlocked it, only to groan at the title of the notification. **_Ninjago High Dance Team!_ ** _We are looking for new members…_ From his father, of course, the email forwarded from the school administrator. He had considered, multiple times, hacking into the school database to get his father off the email list, but he had better things to do. Like yell at his friends. With the addition of parents, only a time period of one hour and ten minutes should be needed so it really wasn’t too much to ask them, really. And if they won, everyone would get free noodles.

Yes, he had spent last night figuring this out instead of studying for his maths test next week. Priorities.

“OhmygoshI’msosorryI’mlate!”

“S’okay Pix,” he turned to the panicking girl to point at the clock. “Ten thirty on the dot anyway. You should be done by eleven forty. Zane’ll come in and take your place.”

Pixal nodded and drew her phone from her purse, the latest BorgPhone, because, well, her dad was Cyrus Borg. “See you at eleven forty!”

**pixal**

Pixal had her eyes trained on the clock face on her BorgWatch, idly twirling the very last, short strands of her noodles around her chopsticks. Five more minutes, and she’d be out of here. She got up to pay her bill as the nine shifted to a zero. The cheapest meal was a very reasonable price, and one a lot of families purchased, she’d noticed. Pixal didn’t have much else to do in the restaurant, and had spent a good portion of her hour and ten minutes assessing every person that walked through the door.

“Six-fifty please,” The cashier boy smiled politely at Pixal and held out the machine so she could tap her card on it. The transaction went through with a reassuring ping, just as she caught Zane entering the shop.

“Right on time,”

“It seems appropriate, considering Cole would kill me if I did not complete this task.”

“Not true,” Pixal countered, her hand slipping into his.

Zane pointed to where a very tense Cole was pacing outside in a black singlet and shorts, rapidly talking to someone on the phone. He looked like he was about to explode. “Point proven.”

“I wouldn’t let him.” She stood on her toes to peck him on the cheek and kept her giggle to herself as a faint blush spread across the boy’s pale features. “Who’s going after you?”

“Nya, if I am correct.”

“Call me afterwards, okay?”

Zane squeezed her hand and slid into a booth. “Of course.”

She left Chen’s like she was walking on a rainbow.

**nya**

She was, unfortunately, a wee bit late. Not as late as her brother would be, of course. But late enough to set Cole the Volcano off. 

“Don’t—” She held up a hand to Cole’s gaping face, and pushed the door open to Chen’s, sliding into the nearest booth with a heavy sigh.

It seemed like _everything_ in her life was going downhill. Her parents wouldn’t be able to make it back for the weekend they’d promised to come home for _weeks_ ago. After they’d cancelled again.

“Oh, Nya honey I’m so sorry, you know I am, but—”

“—you have to stay in Kilsune City for another week, I know.” Nya had finished her mother’s words as tears prickled at her eyes. 

“I love you my little cub.”

“Love you too Mama Bear.”

When the line had disconnected, Nya had sniffled back her tears. She’d teased Lloyd in the past for being called ‘Lloydie-bear’, when in fact, the Smith family’s nicknames revolved around Kai and Nya being the cubs, and their parents taking their respective roles. It was one of those little things she felt jealous about, that the bear thing was a _Smith_ thing.

And to top it all off, she partly regretted moving up a year, even though Principal Wu insisted that she would be a better fit there and that she definitely would progress further in her learning there. A year younger than everyone, Nya had been unusually nervous entering this school year and was expecting to be bullied. Which she had been, of course, until her brother had shown up with Cole by his side, Jay picked up her books with a reassuring smile, Lloyd was glaring at the popular girls, Zane and Pixal were giving them a stern, sarcasm tinged telling off, and suddenly, she had a group of friends. She’d met most of them before of course, and soon fell into a regular routine, ignoring the one part of her life that she hated.

She rested her head and the thick pile of textbooks she’d lugged along with her, and checked her phone to see how much time had passed since she’d arrived.

“ _Three minutes?_ ” She groaned and slammed her forehead into the cover of _Geography of Ninjago, by Nick Hetchenson._

It was going to be a long hour, six minutes and thirty two-no, thirty seconds.

She might as well eat her way through it.

**cole**

He’d watched as Pixal, Zane, Nya, Jay, Ed and Edna, Kai, Skylor, Misako, Dr Julien, Lloyd had passed through the doorway of Master Chen’s Noodle House and each had left with their own expression, anger, happiness or sadness that he was definitely not ready to converse with, because Cole was _not_ good with feelings. He was good with eating, though. But as they’d left, they’d all sent him apologetic glances accompanied by, “Not me, Cole.” 

And then he was left with his own, final shift. Which meant he _had_ to be the final one in the shop. There were two other customers, both whittling down their bowl of noodles extremely fast, in between snippets of an argument Cole was guilty of being heavily entertained by.

“Tommy, how could you? You know that—that James is gone,” hiccuped the girl, waving her chopsticks around.

“Well, why should it change our relationship, just ‘cause your brother’s dead, it was his fault he was a Karelli anyway—”

Cole gulped and averted his eyes from their fight. Okay, this was a _lot_ more drama filled than he had signed up for.

“How _dare_ you!” exploded the girl, slamming her hands onto the table. “I can’t _believe_ you’d say that. We’re over, Thomas. For real, this time. Get used to being single because of a Karelli.”

Tommy leapt to his feet as she stormed out of the Noodle House, steam practically shooting out of her ears.

“Cara baby, come back!”

The now single Thomas ran out after Cara, wailing and begging the whole time. Cole, a little more into this fight than he should be, stepped out of the door to see Cara about to punch Tommy in the face, when the clock behind him struck midnight.

He burst back inside to the cashier, now a snarky boy a year older than him closing the cash register.

“I won, right?”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? I was the last one in the shop, and the deal didn’t end earlier today, so that means—”

“You weren’t the last one to _eat,_ you didn’t order any noodles and therefore the deal actually goes to _them_.” He pointed to the arguing ex-couple, Tommy nursing his bruised face while Cara scowled behind him. The cashier handed Cole the pamphlet with the deal on it, and tapped the very small text below the ad.

“Read the fine print, kid.”

Then Cole enacted the scene from the end of Revenge of the Sith with a howl worthy of Lord Vader.

“ _NOOOOOOOOO!”_

**A/N: hehe i had to, poor cole. and if you've read my kai oneshot from my oneshot book, you may notice the metion of Cara and James Karelli. Not in the same timeline ofc, but i thought it'd be cool**


	8. [7] One secret spilled, how many to go?

**skylor**

It was almost like Cole was mourning the loss of his noodles. She felt bad for him, of course, but she was constantly eating noodles at home so it didn’t seem to be a bad loss for her. Kai was the next affected, probably because the boy was so lazy. The others were a bit miffed at Cole for wasting their time and losing to an arguing couple, but in the end they ended consoling the poor boy the second they arrived at school.

“I’m so sorry Cole, I should’ve warned you about the fine print, my dad is sneaky with literally _everything_.” Skylor apologised to Cole with a quick hug. She wasn’t one for physical affection.

“Yeah, you should have.” snapped Kai from behind Cole, wearing his red jacket, a back pack over his shoulder. Skylor internally scowled. Why had he done a complete 360 in attitude since she’d last seem him?

She then noticed that Nya was wearing the exact same jacket with stripes of white, the piece mainly made of red. Cole was also wearing it, but instead of red, it was yellow, and Lloyd’s green one was slung over his back.

“What are those jackets?”

“Oh, those are our letterman jackets, Sky.” explained Nya. Lloyd held his out for her to examine. “We all got them at the start of the year, so I guess you haven’t gotten yours yet.”

“They’re different colours because they represent our houses. You also get a black one for sports teams, but we only wear them for games and stuff.” continued Cole, tugging on the lapel of his yellow jacket.

“I heard about the houses, but they haven’t put me in one yet. I actually have an appointment for that at lunch.” Skylor said with an excited smile which fell shortly after. “Except the office didn’t tell me what the houses actually were.”

“No problem,” Jay jumped in, guiding her up the stairs. “Let’s start with the Dragons. They’re the ones with the red jackets, basically the brave idiots or the Gryffindors, hey!—” He received a gentle slap on the arm from Nya on the other side of him. “Then the Serpents, who wear green, like little Lloyd here, are the Slytherins and are cunning, I guess, I dunno why thy put Lloyd in there.” Jay’s remark about Lloyd sounded passably sarcastic, although there was a hint of truth there. He paused, whispering, “Probably ‘cause of his dad, you know?”

Skylor shook her head with a confused expression, to which Jay responded, “I’ll tell you at break. Anyways, the Sphinxes are the brainiacs, Ravenclaw, obviously, like Zane and Pixal over there,” the two waved at Skylor and Jay continued babbling. “Then there’s Pegasi, for example, me! We wear yellow and are obviously the best house—”

“DRAGONS FOR THE _WIINNNNN_!” bellowed Kai suddenly, sending Skylor three feet in the air. Now that she looked around, she noticed a lot of the student were wearing their jackets. The ones in red slowly began a loud chant echoing Kai.

“DRA _GONS._ DRA _GONS_! _DRAGONS!”_

“Ignore them,” sighed Jay. “So barbaric. Anyways, those are the four houses. Then, at the end of your first year with your jackets, you get to choose your secondary house.” He pointed to a few older students, focusing on the stripes on their shoulders, two on each side, except the furthest one on the right hand side was a different colour. “Most people choose the house they wanted to get when they came and make their decision ages before they choose their stripe.”

They walked through a ginormous crowd and pushed through towards the library, arriving at their lockers.

“All of our sports and school events mean your have to compete with your primary house, but you’re allowed to sneak your second house if you want to as well.”

“What are you choosing?”

“Sphinxes, definitely.” Jay answered confidently.

“I’m choosing Dragons.” piped up Cole, sticking his head around Lloyd. “Lloyd hasn’t decided yet.”

“I just…don’t know.” mumbled the blonde, shelving his textbooks with his heads down.

Pixal and Nya were waiting for her to go to homeroom, leaning against the wall opposite the lockers.

The former tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m choosing Pegasi.”

“And I’m choosing Sphinxes.” Nya added in a chirpy tone, the polar opposite of how Kai slammed his locker shut from next to Skylor. “ _He’s_ choosing Serpents.”

“Zane’s either choosing Pegasi as well, or Dragons.” Pixal cut the silence of Kai’s angry outburst with a beaming smile. “What house do you think you’re going to be put in Skylor?”

“No idea. Pegasi sounds pretty good, wouldn’t mind Sphinxes or Dragons either.” Skylor answered, juggling her books and pencil case as she nearly tripped over her laces.

“Well, we’ll see after lunch, won’t we?” Pixal confirmed Skylor’s appointment.

“Good memory.” noted Skylor with an impressed smile.

“I get that a lot.” said Pixal, opening the door to their homeroom. “Hope you remembered to study for the maths test!”

“Oh _crap_.”

**lloyd**

Alright, he couldn’t choose what house he wanted to be in. He didn’t get why it was such a big deal, choosing your seconds, but most of the school heavily judged you on your houses, which was just _great._ And his first was Serpents, of course. When he’d first come to Ninjago High and had been placed in Serpents, after his first two weeks he’d quickly noticed the different treatment the houses got. Dragons were posed as the braves ones, reckless idiots, compared to the Pegasi who were laidback and quite chill. Sphinxes were the driving force behind the academic side of the school in all the competitions that Lloyd, quite frankly, did not care about. Then came his own house. The Serpents. He’d begged his uncle to let him move to another house to no avail, so he was stuck here.

In the house known for being cunnings, sly bastards with tricks up their sleeves and plans for plans, which Lloyd did not have. He was the most disorganised person he’d ever met.

He sighed and got ready for Science with Jay, racking his brain for reasons as to why he suddenly dropped out of high school. Discreetly, under the table he pulled out his phone and began swiping through a multitude of Instagram stories.

He continued making his way through Kai’s, Nya’s, Cole’s and Pixal’s when he realised something.

Why the hell was he following Harumi Brassard’s private account?

With a little digging and texting interrogation, he found out that it was of course, Cole and Kai’s fault. Wonderful. He should never have let them get their hands on his phone in the holidays. Probably the day they all went to the beach, he reckoned. He remembered being tackled into ocean headfirst by Zane and Jay, who were probably guilted or blackmailed into it somehow, because it had been very halfhearted when they stuffed his face into the sand lovingly.

_Damn it prankster friends._

He almost had a heart attack when he went to his followers requests.

Harumi had requested to follow him.

**jay**

Jay Walker, knew for sure, he was gonna choose Sphinxes as his second house. Really, it didn’t do much, but that second stripe on your shoulder, was how everyone judged you, off your houses. He was, honestly, a bit upset that he hadn’t been put in Sphinxes straight away. He thought he was quite smart, especially in the areas of engineering and inventing. He also dabbled in poetry and a few other arts he was fairly good at. Even then, he liked being in Pegasi. Each of the houses had their own unique mythical animal, and Jay had always thought pegasi were cool. Like, c’mon, _flying horses_? How is that not epic?

Science was incredibly easy for Jay right now, whisking through the broad topic of Physics, one that he understood easily, leaving him with a lot of spare time, which he spent helping Lloyd in class or lounging around at home when he was supposed to do his science homework that he’d already completed.

“Lloyd, for the _third_ time, which electromagnetic wave on the spectrum has the longest wavelength?”

From beside Jay, Lloyd snapped his head up from his phone and slid it into his pocket.

“Ah, um, I—”

“ _Radio_.” Jay mouthed discreetly.

“RADIO!” shouted Lloyd suddenly, nodding to himself. “Yeah, uh, radio waves.”

“Subtle.” Jay snickered, earning himself a kick in the shins.

“What are you doodling there?”Lloyd leaned over the space between their desks, peering at the notebook corner now covered by Jay’s elbow.

“Nothing.” Jay’s voice squeaked towards the end.

“Miss Pennington?”

“What are you doing?” Jay hissed to Lloyd, who was now smirking.

“Jay knows the answer to the question on the board.” Lloyd nudged Jay’s foot with his own. “C’mon, Jay.”

“Thank you, Mr Walker. Just come up front and answer it.” Miss Pennington raised a brow at Jay’s splutters of indignation. He reached for his notes, only to be stopped by, “No notes, Jay. I think you’ll solve this just fine on your own.”

Jay reluctantly left the book on the table, cheeks burning as he stepped up to answer the question.

“So if you just—” he looked back to see Lloyd examining his notebook. “ _Drop_ the one, and yeah, uh, _dropping_ the one means you have to _drop_ the one on both sides, so please, uh, _drop_ the one in your _notebook_.”

“Thank you… for that eclectic explanation.” Pennington shooed Jay back to his seat. Oh, he was so going to get it later.

“What the hell Lloyd?” he shrieked in a low voice, stomping on his friend’s foot. He saw that the Lloyd also had his hands on Jay’s notebook, and he was smirking a very large smirk rivalling Kai’s. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“You like _Nya_?”

“Shut up!” Jay shrieked again, snatching the blue notebook back from Lloyd’s clutches. “Say that one more time, louder, for everyone to hear, yeah?”

“Okay!” Lloyd cupped his hands around his mouth and moved to stand up when Jay shot him a pinning glare his mother often used on _him_.

“I still can’t believe it! You. Like. Nya!”

“One more time to get it through your thick head?” Jay suggested sardonically, his notched brow raised.

“But you! Nya!”

“Yeah, I get it,” Jay sighed slamming his head onto the desk so his voice was muffled. “She’s never gonna like me back.”

The bell screeched as it the clock ticked over to just before second period.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Lloyd said slyly, already at the door.

An ember of hope fizzled to life in Jay’s chest. Could Nya- “LLOYD GARMADON!”

But Lloyd was already sprinting down the hallway to where Nya was standing with Skylor and Pixal.

“LLOYD COME BACK I SWEAR ON—.”

He then noticed everyone staring at him.

“Oops.”

Stupid cunning Serpent.

**A/N: lol i’ve been writing in skylors pov so much but its just easier since she’s new she analyses a lot and develops relationships as well. AND YES THE HOUSES ARE INSPIRED BY THE FOUR HOGWARTS HOUSES OKAY??? And guess who thought of another ninjago au? yes me, dammit. might put a chapter up and see how it goes**


	9. [8] Jay spills the beans (not literally, though, that would be funny)

**skylor**

She’d waited patiently through two classes for Jay to spill the beans.

Skylor cornered her friend after second period, arms crossed and ready to pry the information out of him. Normally, she wouldn’t really care, but she just wanted to get to the bottom of this Garmadon mystery.

“Spill the beans, Walker.”

“Hello to you too Skylor.”

“C’mon Pegasi, just tell me so I can get this over with.”

Jay raised a brow, shuffling through a stack of papers. “Caught onto the houses, have you?”

“Oh, don’t be like Kai.” Skylor huffed in return, not wanting to return to her previously pissed mood whenever Kai was around her 

“Fine…” Jay trailed off, eyes darting around the deserted hallway they were in.

“Lloyd’s not here, and if he is, he’s invisible.” She added in a slightly snarkier tone.

Jay looked like he sorely regretted letting slip on Lloyd’s father and promising to tell her, but Skylor refused to budge.

“Okay,” Jay took a deep breath. 

“Lloyd’sdadisagangleaderwho’scalledLordGarmadonandhe’sreallyscrayandhealmostgotLloydshotonceandyeah—”

He then shot off in direction of their lockers, denim book bag thumping against his hip. Skylor raced after him, yanked on his shoulder and held him firm.

“Jay Walker, tell me what you know or I’ll get Nya to kick your kneecaps in.”

Jay visibly gulped, and then straightened himself, adjusting the angle of his orange scarf with a polite cough.

“Lloyd’s dad is a leader of this gang called Sons of Garmadon,”

Skylor raised an eyebrow at the name, watching the clock impatiently.

“Yeah, I know, it’s a bit cocky,” Jay’s eyes widened and his pace picked up. “Don’t let anyone know I told you that. Like I said, they’re super scary and responsible for like ninety per cent of crime in Ninjago. Since Lloyd’s in Serpents, I guess people think it’s ‘in his blood’ or whatever, so no one gets too worked up about it.”

She opened her mouth to inquire about the last bit of Jay’s rushed speech when he interrupted her.

“Well, they don’t get all mad unless Lloyd does something  _ really  _ bad.” In a hushed voice, Jay stepped closer. “One time, he got into a fight, his dad and some gang members pulled up and guns got fired and Lloyd nearly got  _ shot _ .”

Her mouth formed a soft ‘oh’ and she felt bad about demanding to know what Lloyd’s dad was all about. A guilty feeling was settling in her stomach. She didn’t ask Lloyd first, when she really should have. Skylor sighed, thanked Jay and then headed to break with the feeling in her stomach weighing her down like lead.

At lunch, now that she’d been given the run down on the houses, she was considerably more excited to find out what house she was going to be in. It seemed like most of the friendship group was spread across the four houses. Lloyd did seem a bit lonely in Serpents though, all on his own with Harumi. She didn’t think she was smart enough for Sphinxes, so that left Pegasi and Dragons. Jay and Cole were pretty cool, Kai was a jerk, and Nya was one of her best friends.

“Come in Miss Chen,”

She opened the door and sat down in the chair before Principal Wu. His desk was extremely organised, the stack of papers all in line, pens and pencils in the cup holder, his laptop with his phone stacked on top, and his golden plaque inscribed with  _ Principal Wu.G,  _ free of dust.

“I’m glad you’re on time. It seems most of the students in this school have no regard for punctuality.” Wu cleared his throat, tapping his clipboard with his pen. “Regarding your house, the teachers and I have found that the most appropriate placing for you would be Dragons.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“You don’t seem very excited.” 

“Oh—I am, I’m  _ super  _ excited.” Wu didn’t seem to buy it, and to be honest, Skylor wasn’t either. The Smith siblings were the nicest, at least, one of them was, the other was a total ass.

Wu frowned. “You should get back to lunch, Miss Chen. I’ll get the receptionist to email you when you can pick up your jacket”

“Thank you Principal Wu.” She ducked out of the office, not quite sure how to feel, when she walked smack-bang into someone.

“Whoops—”

Kai was rubbing his forehead.  _ Ah, must have hurt that big ego of his. _

“You could at least apologise, you know that right? Human decency?”

“Psh, as if you have any.”

“I am  _ hurt _ .”

“Okay.”

“Do you have to be so rude?”

“I mean, not really.” Skylor had  _ no  _ idea where this sarcasm had popped up from.

“You were annoying enough correcting all my spelling mistakes.” Kai crossed his arms, raising a brow.

“I just thought if you wanted to make it to next year, you’d have to pass English. I’m just helping.” One part of her was screaming  _ what the hell Skylor?  _ The other was  _ go go go go go go go go!  _ Both voices battling each other, she sighed and stepped away. Why could she not function properly in front of other people?

Or Kai?

**nya**

It was only Wednesday, but if given the chance to restart the week, she gladly would have.

One: She nearly failed her Maths test because she was busy helping Cole get over his loss of noodles.

Two: Kai had an insane plan to get the Fritz Donnegan game through Skylor’s locker.

Three: Her parents had changed their minds and were actually coming back  _ next _ weekend, which meant something big was happening, and she didn’t want to accept that.

Four: She realised that she may have a teeny tiny crush on someone in their friendship group

And this was how it happened.

The first bad thing was a mix of Monday and Sunday. Sunday afternoon was spent in the group chat cheering Cole up, getting slightly mad she’d had to endure being alone with her thoughts and a bowl of noodles for over an hour with no result, but in the end, they managed to get some laughs out of it.

- **who in the hell put da muffins in da freezer** -

**music man:** _ :( _

_ attached: image _

Nya opened it and sighed. Cole had been listening to The Wind Cries Mary, a song that made absolutely no sense. It was also incredibly depressing and his go-to ‘I’m very sad so I’ll listen to old songs’ song.

**Me:** _ oh cole it cant be that bad _

**lil green bean:** _ i mean its totally not like i wastted an hour in the damn noodle shop eating cold noodles _

**noodle lady:** _ are you saying my dads noodles are bad? _

**lil green bean:** _...no _

**noodle lady:** _ good. _

**kai the fry:** _ someone’s angry _

**noodle lady:** _ and someone’s being a duck _

_ *duck _

_ *duck _

_ *duck _

**kai the fry:** _ BAHAHAHAHAH WHAT IS WRONG WIGH YOURE KEYABORG _

**cool, calm and collected:** _ a better question would be what is wrong with yours _

**Me:** _ kai i thought we established spelling at a first grade level was bad for your rep _

**noodle lady:** _ *your keyboard _

**kai the fry:** _ why you all bully me :( _

**Me:** _ literal child _

**music man:** _ can we get back to my depressing weekend? _

**i put da muffins in da freezer:** _ sorry i had to help my dad with some stuff. what did i miss? _

**noodle lady:** _ smith cant spell _

**i put da muffins in da freezer:** _ so kai hasn’t moved from kindy spelling? _

**kai the fry:** _ YOUR ALL SO MEAN _

**noodle lady:** _ *you’re _

**kai the fry:** _ fuck you chen _

**i put da muffins in da freezer:** _ *captain america voice* language _

**music man:** _ no offense jay i dont think you could be captain america _

**i put da muffins in da freezer:** _ rude _

**kai the fry:** _ see puny this is what its like talking to the bullies _

**i put da muffins in da freezer:** _ EXPOSING ME B U L L I E S. THESE *POINTING* ARE B U L L I E S. HIGH SCHOOL. DUCKING BULLIES.  _

**music man:** _ :( ( ( ( _

**brains of the operation:** _ technically, given the scientific resources and several out of the world minerals and concepts, we could turn jay into captain america _

Then, Monday morning, she and Skylor barely squeaked a sixty-seven on their Maths test, something so irregular for Nya that her Math teacher had a big, long, droning talk with her, asking if everything was okay at home. 

“Of course it is,” she’d replied with an easy smile.

Lie.

“My parents and I FaceTime every day.”

Lie.

“I had a really busy day yesterday, a family emergency came up.”

Lie.

“Oh yes, my last birthday my parents were here and had the most extraordinary gift for me.”

Lie.

They’d sent her a new BorgPhone and running shoes, as well as a stack of gift cards.

The second thing involved several cans of RedBull, Kai, an old arcade game, and a chainsaw. Alright, maybe not a chainsaw, but something to ‘cut through the wall, yeah, badabing badabooom’, in the infamous words of her brother.

His plan was laid out simply. First, transport the game in the back of Cole’s truck to school on a Saturday evening after practice. Second, break  _ into  _ the main building. Third, get something to unhinge the lockers from the wall and push them back. Fourth, use a power tool to cut away the wall so everyone can access the locker room through their locker and so they could push the game in. Five, bring the rest of the stuff in, clean everything up, and tada!

Apparently her brother didn’t get the meaning behind breaking and entering.

The third thing chilled her bone. Her parents had called on Saturday, said they couldn’t make it, and then on Tuesday morning, they called again.

“Hey Nya-bear!” chirped Maya from the other end, her voice breaking up a bit.

“Hi, mum.” A little suspicious, Nya had frowned, settling down amongst the cocoon of fluffy blankets and pillows, pausing the TV on The Crown. Her fingers were a bit buttery from the popcorn (she’d made it without it burning, somehow) and smudged the screen.

“So, I know we told you that we couldn’t come home this weekend,” a pregnant pause, in which Nya’s heart had dropped to her socked-feet. Was she not coming for midterm either? A whole heap of disappointment added to her fear. “But we are coming home next week.”

“Why?” That had come out sharper than intended, Nya had flinched herself, waiting with bated breath for her mother’s response.

“A surprise, honey.” Her mother had covered the speaker with something to mumble off to her father.

“Anyways, we’ll see you then. I hope the house isn’t a mess!” Maya’s nervous laugh infected Nya as well. The same laugh, accompanied by “Give me Kai’s motivation and five days, and it’ll all be fine.”

“I’ll see you on Saturday Nya.”

“Bye mum.”

And then Nya turned to drown herself in the drama of The Crown, praying that the surprise was a good one. She highly doubted that.

The fourth… she didn’t know what to make of it. He was nice, yes, caring, a bit of a mischief maker, stoic when he concentrated.

She felt bad about liking him.

Then again, what was bad about liking your brother’s best friend?

**A/N: here at ninjago high, we love drama, don't we? hehe Ive got so many ideas. anyway, if you didn't seen, cos and VA have been taken off. This means vacation, ninjago + tmc oneshots, and moral of the story will be getting more frequent, and hopefully better quality updates :) if you wanna see something specific, just comment it!**

**-doms**


	10. [09] Breaking into school >> homework

**pixal**

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her green eyes flashing back at her in the mirror’s reflection. Adjusting the purple hair tie holding her hair up in a high ponytail, Pixal twisted around to check her clothes. Before anything happened, she wanted to set the record straight. What they were about to do was  _ terrible.  _ Like, really terrible. She wasn’t sure why she was doing this, but Pixal had always been pegged as ‘the Quiet One’. For once, she wanted to do something bad. Reckless. Rowdy. So, she’d watched hundreds of break-in movies, as well as heist and high school movies to get ready for the most dangerous thing she’d do in her life.

Ergo, she was wearing all black. A turtleneck that sort of felt like it was choking her neck, but it looked cool. Plain black leggings, which, unfortunately, owned no pockets, but she made up for that by purchasing a pretty darn cool utility belt, also in all black.

“Dad, I’m leaving now!” Her boots barely made a sound, the soles grippy but quiet as she waited for the lift to reach the bottom level. A con of living in BorgTower, there were a lot of floors, which meant she spent a lot of time in the lift. Her father had moved a chair in there for her to sit in when she felt like passing out, even though he didn’t really need it. Today she’s remembered to take her iron tablets though, so she would be fine. Her father was confined to a wheelchair, disabeled since birth, but Pixal didn’t think it changed anything. He had crazy ideas to improve things he’d already improved, to invent and develop technology that didn’t exist, and so much more she often forgot that he was on wheels.

Cyrus Borg had adopted Pixal when she was three. She didn’t remember anything before that really. The days in the orphanage blended together in one big blur of grey and beige and stone walls. BorgTower had become her home two days after she’d turned three, and she could remember waddling in on chubby legs, staring in awe at the mile-high glass walls, gaping with a two-tooth gap at the robots whizzing around casually.

She knew she wanted to take Borg Industries even further, and she liked to believe that she really was her father’s daughter, blood or not. 

“Okay Pixal, just have your phone with you at all times, go to the bathroom in twos, have a good dinner with your friends, text me when you get to the mall, when you leave—"

“Alright, I got it!”

She swung out of the revolving door, a skip in her step as she walked down to the train. Ninjago High, get ready for an eight-student break in.

Then it hit her. She was  _ breaking into her school _ .

Pixal then proceeded to have a very quiet panic attack the whole ten minutes it took for the train to stop near Ninjago High. Maybe she should have started off with something small, like shoplifting, but that was just as bad too. Where was the inbetween from breaking into school and living a peaceful life as a law abiding citizen?

The air was cool and brisk in the evening, the autumn-tinted trees outside the school swaying in the wind to invisible music. There were little to no cars, the remaining ones probably late parents picking up their kids from practice. Ninjago High was a humongous campus, and quite large seeing as the majority of the city and kids outside attended the school. Sandstone and smooth stone, pillars of white concrete and the massive steps leading up to the front entrance. They’d organised to meet behind the school where the bike parking was, so Pixal tried to act inconspicuous (most of the movies she’d watched involved bank break-ins, and right now, those seemed easier than acting casual in all-black clothing).

Kai and Cole were already there, standing by Cole’s beaten pick-up truck, the open cargo area holding a bulky object which she assumed was the arcade game covered with a moth-eaten cloth tarp. There was also a bunch of other stuff lumped around it and in the passenger seat. Nya showed up a minute later, standing by Cole’s side with a nervous look on her face as she jumped from foot to foot. Zane and Jay walked into soon after, leaving Lloyd and Skylor to show up.

“Sorry!” Skylor burst through the gate, skidding to a halt beside Pixal. “Clouse forgot her had to drop me off.”

“Must be nice having a personal chauffeur.”

Pixal noticed how Skylor kept her emotions in check, letting out a loud, annoyed breath as she clenched her fists.

“He’s not my chauffeur, he’s my dad’s PA.”

Kai ignored Skylor’s response as Lloyd tumbled in, his hair stuck up in ten different directions, a wild look in his eyes.

“Morro.”

Lloyd’s single-word statement was referring to his cousin, no one quite knew how they were related, but they were, much to each other’s displeasure. Pixal could safely say that Morro was a jerk though, he’d bullied her long before she’d joined their friendship group, she kept at least ten feet away from him and still thought about pushing him into the deep end of the pool. A pool without water.

“Alright, let’s get to it!” Cole cheered, only to be shushed loudly by seven other voices.

_ I can’t believe I’m doing this.  _

Nya and Cole worked together, with a bit of argument, to get the game down onto a dolly trolley so they could push it into the school. Lloyd had pilfered his uncle’s spare sets of keys, to be met with cries of protest and worry on whether his uncle would notice their disappearance. At lunch on Friday, they’d mapped out the route they’d take to their lockers. 

Just as Lloyd unlocked the door at the back of the school, Pixal froze.

“Are—are you guys sure we’re going to do this? What if we get caught? What if we get arrested and then get sent to jail—”

Jay’s eyes widened with hers. “Crap on a cracker, what if she’s right? They have security cameras inside! What were we thinking?”

Kai, Cole and Lloyd exchanged equally anxious looks as they realised the magnitude of what they were doing. Then Skylor stepped up, placing a hand on top of the arcade game.

“I might have a solution.”

**skylor**

She was either leading them to jailed doom, or giving them an awesome passage to the locker room. It was a theory that had been lingering in the back of her mind throughout the busy second week of school. There were three exits and entrances to the room. Through her locker, through the trapdoor and through the second door. They couldn’t use the first two, since the first had cameras on it, and the second had no way to get up there. Which left the second door.

One lunch break, Skylor had returned to her locker and put away her books, and with a quick check, she had pushed the loose backing out and in the room. She closed her locker behind her, making it appear as if it was locked, and then hopped into the room with her phone light shining. Holding back a grossed-out scowl, Skylor pushed on the door handle. It didn’t move much, just creaked a little, so when she tried again, it was with all of her strength, and the door opened.

It was even colder stepping over the threshold into what appeared to be a dark passage. Skylor shone the light up, watching as old unused pipes came into view. Under foot was just plain concrete, the walls the same material which obviously did not insulate. The passage was quite big, actually wide enough for two, maybe three people to walk side by side. A tremor of excitement tickled her spine as she dared to explore further. After nearly fifteen minutes of walking and a short flight of stairs, she had come to another door. It took more force to wrench the rusted door open, leaving her hands red and raw. A lock of red hair fell into her view, which she tucked back with a tired huff. 

She left the passageway and stepped into what appeared to be a loading bay, two red brick walls shielding most of her view, casting a shadow without the help of the broken light bulb in the overhead light. Skylor crept around the corner, trying to figure out where she was. Finally, she recognised where she’d been led to. To the left of Ninjago High was an old shop that had been abandoned. It ran out of business long before Skylor had moved to the city. 

_ An underground passage? This is movie type of shit.  _ Noticing the time, Skylor quietly yelped and then darted back inside. She had ten minutes to get to maths.

So Skylor ended up leading her friends towards the abandoned shop lot, and after a bit of arguing, they decided to re-cover the arcade game with the tarp and wheel it across the street in a less-than subtle parade. She ushered then around the back of the building, between the brick walls to the shaded area.

“Welcome to…” she looked around, her eyes finding the hanging awning over the door. “The Mad-Hatter’s Tea Shop,”

At their confused expressions, she continued. “AKA, our way into the school.”

“How?” Cole asked, one hand resting on the covered game.

“I did a little exploring.” she shrugged, opening the door. “This passage leads right to the second door. I have no idea why it’s built, but if you guys want that ridiculous game in there without breaking into the school, I think this is the safest, jail-free way.”

“Not bad, Chen.” Kai offered her an impressed smirk, which she acknowledged by walking into the passage.  _ Why was she such a bitch?  _ She considered this for a moment.  _ Because it’s fun.  _

“There’s a few stairs, so we’re gonna have to lift it.”

Kai and Cole groaned loudly, grumbling to themselves as they prepared to lift, but Nya shoved her brother aside and took his place opposite Cole. Jay cleared his throat.

“Hey, uh, Cole, I think I can get that.”

Cole shrugged, his hands still on the bottom of the trolley. “Sure… I guess.”

Nya smiled at Cole, or Jay, Skylor couldn’t tell, looking down with a bashful cough. Skylor exchanged a suspicious look with Pixal. What was going on with Nya? Maybe she just had a cough? But from the way the Smith sibling blushed when her hand brushed against the boy’s knuckles by accident, Skylor knew this was no cold. 

She directed them down the stairs, turning to lead the train of people behind her, Zane, Pixal, Kai, Jay and Nya with the game, Cole, and finally Lloyd at the back. With her flashlight on and excitement high, they gained ground quickly, stopping a few times so Jay could rest. Nya was holding up fine, though Skylor caught her sneaking a look at the boy next to her more than a few times.

Under a quarter of an hour later, then arrived at the door. Skylor opened it, anticipation thrumming under her skin just to prove she’d found something amazing on her own.

“Ta-da!”

The others left the dolly trolley to enter the room, examining the hangout spot once again. 

“Alright, let’s get the game in here!” Nya and Jay stepped back through the door, returning with red, puffed cheeks and flyaway hair holding the Fritz Donnegan game, setting it down in the middle of the gigantic room. 

Skylor blew out a gust of air, pursing her lips. “Let’s go get the other stuff, yeah?”

They easily fell into a routine. To make things easier, Cole parked his truck in the loading bay so they wouldn’t have to lug everything in the open. It sort of felt like they were lifting illegal substances with the amount of secrecy they were using. Then a relay system came, just to move things along faster. Skylor was quite proud to say the relay was her idea, and in no time at all, all the stuff they’d brought along with sitting in a big pile in the middle of the room.

She lay flat on her back, letting the cold floor cool her down. Her friends seem to take to the idea as well, Zane lay down on her left, Cole on her right. She wasn’t quite sure how Zane was hot though, whenever she was around him, he was like a walking, talking, very smart freezer. In simpler terms, he was constantly radiating  _ cold. _

Not rude cold, but like he was fanning cold air wherever he went. Useful in the summer, she supposed, but it was quite breezy right now.

She craned her neck to find Jay fiddling with the power box, a neon orange tool box on the ground next to him as he crouched, huddled over the old outlet. Nya was squatting besides him, murmuring her own comments, occasionally taking over to poke and rewire. 

Directly above Skylor was a gigantic, oval shaped light. The bulb seemed to be intact, and the next thing she knew, the light bulb flickered back to life and the room was no longer blanketed in darkness. Jay was standing triumphantly over the power box, Nya grinning beside him holding a pair of pliers.

“Great job Jay!” Skylor twirled around on the spot, her hair spinning around with her in a red haze. “I guess we couldn’t use flashlights forever.” She added with a laugh.

Kai stood up just as she flung her arms out, but his fast reflexes caught on. Just...not in a way she expected, because next thing she knew, Kai was swinging with her, then everyone else was joining in, Jay fumbled for Nya’s hands just as Cole decided to skip around the arcade game, Zane and Pixal giggling in glee.

It was nice, like this.

With friends.

**A/N: uh, I know I said they'd be like under 2k words but this is over a bit cause I didn't want to edit the stuff out. i love writing mystery love bits because no one knows who nya likes... or do you? idk I haven't written this mystery shrouded thing before so *shrugs* anyways I hope you liked this chapter! i got a ton of ideas where I can take this book; they get their powers eventually, it remains like this with other high school stuff, or some pretty dark shite so... yeeeee. comment what you'd like to see! also there is some swearing just cause you know.**

**-doms**


	11. [10] The crowd goes 'Oooooo'

**kai**

He was late for homeroom. Again. But at this point, his teacher had given up trying to send him to detentions he already had, so he slid into the seat next to Rema. His classmate sent him a tight-lipped smile, going back to drawing in her notebook. She was in one or two of his classes, Kai vaguely remembered. He also remembered that she didn’t like him flirting with her because she’d slapped him rather hard one time.

However, Kai did have a good excuse. Well, to his friends, it was a good excuse. Over the weekend, they’d finally finished setting up the hangout spot, which they were currently arguing as to what to name it. It was now scrubbed clean at the price of their poor hands and several buckets of water, soap and gloves. Hell, it was dirty. By far the biggest accomplishment was the power coming back on. It took Nya, Jay, Pixal and Zane the better part of Saturday evening and Sunday morning to somehow route the power to the room. Enough power for the light, the TV, the arcade game, the mini fridge and a few other things. Skylor, annoyingly, had voiced her concerns as to whether or not the school would notice them suspiciously siphoning power from the school. It was then Pixal and Zane revealed their sneaky side. Pixal had opened her laptop, and with Zane by her side, had  _ hacked  _ into the school system scarily easily, and had changed up a few things so it appeared that everything was fine.

Lloyd had come through with the promise of his beanbags, though a little faded and torn, Zane was quite nifty with a needle and thread, so in front of the TV in a horseshoe shape were six large beanbags. Cole had sourced the television stand and the low coffee table, both a second hand from a place he refused to tell them the location of. Skylor had stocked the mini fridge with plenty of drinks and food from Master Chen’s Noodle House, rigging up a coffee machine on a cardboard box that currently served as their storage, set on it’s side so the flaps opened out, revealing some other snacks and mugs and plates. 

The arcade game was disappointingly not working just yet. But Jay and Kai and Cole were spending all their spare time on it, so hopefully it would get up and running soon. The gaming system was by far one of the coolest things, and they’d all cobbled together a reasonable set of equipment to use. Nya brought a dartboard and some board games from their house, Pixal set up some sort of a charging station, and finally they had a room worth naming. They did eventually find a light switch, and they were sure to add even more things to the hangout, but for now, it was chill. And much to Pixal, Zane and Jay’s innocence, he spent a lot of time assuring them that they weren't actually, technically,  _ really _ breaking into their school.

It also got him in trouble.

Chad and the rest of his  _ other  _ friends were getting a bit pissed that he was spending so much time with his...dork squad, as they’d named it.

“Smith, you up for a game after school?” Jake tossed him the basketball as they walked out of English. Kai bounced it a few times on the concrete before passing it back.

“I can’t bro, sorry.”

“Hanging out with the dork squad again?” 

Kai decided to ignore Chad and intercept the pass from Jake to Liam wordlessly.

“Come on man, just tell them you can’t make it.”

“Yeah, what are they gonna do, get Garmadon’s dad to go after us?” jeered Liam.

“Don’t.” Kai said shortly, struggling to keep his temper in check. “They’re more dangerous than you think.”

They shut up after that, probably heeding his warning. Kai barely got serious with them, and speaking of the Sons of Garmadon offhandedly was probably invoking your doom. They had eyes and ears everywhere.

“But yeah, I can move some stuff around. Courts or the gym?” They began crossing the field, throwing the ball between each other. His friends seemed to be busy with something else to answer his questions.

“Looking good there!” Chad hollered from behind him

Kai swivelled around to find the three of his popular friends catcalling on Skylor, Nya, and Pixal. Liam and Jake wolf-whistled in unison, much to Kai’s growing anger. But he was already in enough shit with them, and unless they made a direct move on his sister-

“Oi, Smith!”

That was it. Kai ran a hand through his hair. He needed to play this smart.

“You, me, dinner at Roosevelts’—”

“Actually, I think I’d rather go to Fire Blossom.” He was going to get  _ killed  _ later. Kai strode up to Chad, clapping a hand on his shoulder, trying to stop the wobbling in his legs. “The steak at Roosevelts’ is shit, yeah?”

Chad’s mouth was forming a funny sort of smile mixed with a scowl. 

“Oh, unless you were talking to someone else?” Kai pretended to search the field before them, using his hands as binoculars.

They were beginning to gather a crowd.

“No, Smith, I just think you’re sister’s hot.” Chad seemed to have regained his composure, throwing Kai’s hand off his shoulder roughly.

“Ehhhh.” Kai cocked his head when he spotted Jay in the crowd. “Jay, do you think my sister’s hot?”

Nya’s face was turning a red rivalling her Dragons jacket, and Kai wasn’t quite sure whether it was from anger or embarrassment. Probably anger.

Jay opened his mouth a few times, and someone from the ring of people watching pushed him out into the middle a few steps in between Kai, Chad, Jake, Liam and Nya, Skylor and Pixal. A few students pulled their phones out, and Kai knew this was going to go viral on the school gossip account.

“Well?” Liam joined in with a condescending smirk.

“Yes! Totally! Uh — I mean—yeah, I guess. ” Jay scratched the back of his neck, avoiding the heated gaze of the Smith siblings.

“So?” Chad took a step forward, and Nya mirrored his action, cracking her knuckles. 

_ She’s got this.  _ Kai thought confidently, recognised the determined glint in her eyes. 

“So what, Davis?”

“Are you gonna go out with me?”

“Hmmmmm.” Nya took a good, long look around the field, eyeing Chad distastefully. “No.”

“No?”

“No as in, no I’m not going out with you Chad Davis, get that through your thick head.”

“Oooooooooo.” Went the crowd, Kai shamelessly joined in as well. 

“You must be thicker if you don’t want to go out with  _ me _ .”

Cocky git. Possibly more so than Kai himself. Kai stepped forward, fists clenched to intervene when Nya shot him a cool glare. 

_ Stand down.  _

He nodded, even though he didn’t like this at all and retreated back to Chad’s side. 

The ‘Oooooo’ing stopped, almost as if everyone was holding their breaths for Nya’s response.

“Well it’s clear why she doesn’t want to date you,” someone said. 

“And why is that?” countered Chad proudly. He probably thought he was going to win Nya over his battle of wits.

“Because she’s dating  _ me _ .”

**lloyd**

He froze in shock from where he stood in the crowd, with his jacket on displaying the Serpent emblem on his back.

“She’s  _ what _ ?” blurted out Kai, his eyes going wide.

“She’s dating me.” Cole said again.

Kai’s mouth fell open and he seemed to glitch because he was opening and closing his mouth repeatedly with no sound.

“Prove it.” Jake said with a disbelieving laugh.

Nya was equally gobsmacked, rigid between Pixal and Skylor.

“Yeah. Kiss her.” Liam suggested scoffing, with a  _ can you believe this look  _ to Kai. 

Nya uncharacteristically squeaked, Skylor choked on the noodles she’d been eating and Pixal looked like she was about to run out of the school grounds out of sheer embarrassment.

Cole obviously did not realise how far he’d have to take this, because he joined in on Kai’s goldfish mouthing. Then Nya took matters into her own hands. She walked over to Cole, stood on her tip-toes and pressed her lips to his.

Kai fainted.

From then on it was a haze of high-pitched screaming from the crowd, startled expressions from Liam, Chad, and Jake, Cole and Nya kissing, Kai passed out on the grass, flashes from cameras and teachers coming out to break up the show. Jay and Lloyd ended up accompanying a dazed Kai to the nurses office, Jay supporting Kai on the left, Lloyd on the right. His conscious friend was quiet the whole walk, chewing on his lip nervously.

“What happened this time?” sighed the nurse, gesturing for them to help a stirring Kai onto the bed.

“He fainted.” Lloyd explained shortly, bobbing his head towards the field. “I think he’s fine though, he just passed on on grass.”

Kai groaned, holding his head as his eyes blinked open.

“You okay there dude?” Jay asked, still playing with the ends of his scarf. His behaviour was weirding Lloyd out.

“Yeah,” Kai said, then he shot to his feet. “I’m going to  _ kill _ Cole.”

Before Lloyd could try and stop him, Kai sprinted out of the nurse’s office. Lloyd and Jay sighed in unison and then took off after Kai before he could reach Cole.

But they didn’t.

“COLE YOU PIECE OF FUCKING  _ SHIT _ .”

If this was a movie, Kai’s tackle would have been played out in slow motion. Cole, only just turning around, fell back from the tackle. It was a blur of red and yellow, punches and yells and more phones being pulled out. To Lloyd, it was more like two pathetic worms flopping around, because neither boy really had been in a proper fight before, and Cole obviously would have the upper hand with all his muscles, but he was holding back, delaying his punches and throwing them too lightly.

And Lloyd knew this because he’d been in a few fights himself, and his dad, on the rare occasion he had showed up, had taught him the proper way to fight. At least that’s what his dad had said, but Lloyd found it to be more dirty fighting, low tactics and sneaky attacks.

“Hey! Break it up kids!” yelled a history teacher. Liam pulled Kai out of the fray, Lloyd doing the same for Cole. Kai’s nose was dripping blood, his lip cut as well and his hair was even worse than normal. Cole was sporting a black eye and a bruise along his jawline.

“What happened here?” demanded Mr Jones, scowling as he ran a hand through his beard. 

“He kissed my sister!”

“Well technically, your sister kissed  _ me _ —”

“I have a  _ name  _ you know?” stormed in Nya. Jay yelped, reached out a hand and then withdrew it at the blazing look in her eyes. Mr Jones stuttered, trying and failing to keep her back. Without hesitation, Nya slapped her brother across the face.

“What the  _ hell— _ ”

“Language—” Jay seemed to be the only one finding his own comment funny.

“Made you think that you could solve this for me?” Nya growled, holding her hand up threateningly like she was about to slap him again. “Yeah, I kissed Cole, ‘cause I’m  _ dating _ him,”

Jay made a weird sound next to him, like a strangled donkey, not that Lloyd had heard one before. Unless Nya and Cole were actually dating, it appeared she was still pretending they were in a relationship.

“Mr Smith, Mr Brookstone you will both need to report to detention after school for the rest of this week. Principal Wu will talk to you after school today.” Mr Jones lowered his glasses on his hooked nose, pleased with himself for stopping a fight.

_ Barely, _ scoffed Lloyd to himself. Cole grunted, taking the slip without making eye contact with a fuming Kai and Nya. The bell rang for next period, and all the gathered students shuffled off, still hyped up on the recent drama.

This was starting off as a  _ fantastic  _ day.

**A/N: *sips tea* so yeah, I did that. a lot of the high school fics I've read have so much angst but like no reason for angst so I'm trying to have the story be fairly reasonable. if anything else comes up that's unexplained then.... ye. anyways I hoped you liked this chapter, I'm off to make cookies, and feel free to yell at me in the comments anytime you want. you also might have seen that I changed a few things in the description and the introduction chapter so h a h a** oh and rema is the OC of my friend Iva btw :) 


	12. [11] Lloyd (Bean Boy) Garmadon

**jay**

Jay Walker was about to yeet himself out of his dad’s crane into a pile of metal junk, because his brain was still processing what just happened. He was currently in English, crushing a ball of paper in his hand so he wouldn’t stand up and scream in front of his classmates.

Cole had kissed Nya.

If you went chronologically, it technically would have been  _ Nya  _ kissed Cole.

However, it was easier if he just hated Cole instead. He liked to think things through, which meant he spent his English period overthinking everything that had happened earlier that morning. Tracing back the  _ thing,  _ it was probable that if Kai hadn’t intervened, if Cole hadn’t been a piece of crap, Nya would never have ended up kissing Cole, ergo it was Kai and Cole’s fault. Simple. 

Jay was also beating himself up inside. Maybe if he’d been faster, thought quicker and just put  _ his  _ hand up to say he was dating Nya Smith, he would have kissed his crush. He sunk lower in his seat and considered calling home sick to get his parents to pick him up.

“Miss Harlow, please read out the next quotes on the worksheet.”

A girl near the back of the classroom yawned sleepily. “Oh yeah, sure just hold on…”

Jay looked down at his tattered copy of Romeo and Juliet, from the second hand bookstore on the outskirts of the city, then to the worksheet scribbled with halfhearted answers.

“ Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake— it's everything except what it is.”

Jay felt his stomach turn. He hated love. Stupid lovey dovey things like crushes were just plain stupid and got his heart in twists and his stomach full of butterflies.

“The next one as well Astra.” Jay’s teacher stood up to pace around the front of the classroom, her beads and bracelets and necklaces jangling along with her. She was always dressed a bit eccentrically, a kooky style with lots of drapes and scarves.

“ See how she leans her cheek upon her hand. O, that I were a glove upon that hand. That I might touch that cheek!” Astra paused in her reading to make a disgusted face. “Okay, that was creepy.”

The class burst into laughter, leaving Miss Kelly to shush them, sending spittle flying at the students. They all sighed mid laughter, held up pieces of paper in front of their faces and waited for the spittle volley to stop. Jay felt the tears well up behind his eyes at the mere thought of pretty much everything. 

Jay Walker never got what he wanted.

He had a great group of friends, sure.

But he lived in a junkyard.

His parents were embarrassing as hell.

He was painstakingly  _ poor _ and he hated it.

Everyone else saw him as a nerd, and took that as an opportunity to bully him.

The girl he liked thought of him as a friend, and had just kissed one of his best friends.

Jay Walker had nothing.

He ducked out of English when the bell rang again, with his head hung low, his stomach roiling and his brain hurting as whispers of  _ Nya kissed Cole!  _ and  _ what should their ship name be?  _ flitted through the hallways. Then there was the rare  _ are they even dating?,  _ which made Jay’s heart leap at the possibility that maybe, just maybe this was all a show to get Chad to back off.

Jay turned the corner to his locker, catching sight of Nya and Cole talking in the deserted corridor. He fled back around the corner, leaning against the cool metal of more lockers, hoping the red of his cheeks would fade to just his freckles.  _ Wait.  _ He eventually heard their footsteps recede towards the library, and the coast was clear for him to switch out his books.

He dumped Romeo and Juliet and his English stuff on the top shelf when someone shoved him from behind. He toppled into his locker with a grunt, using his hands to stop him at a jarring halt. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a strand of green hair against black, and he sighed.

“What do you want, Morro?”

The bully simply laughed. “You looked a bit pathetic out there, Walker, pining after She-Smith while she snogged Brookstone?”

“Pining?”

Morro scoffed, looking left and right as if he couldn’t afford being seen with Jay. A lot of people did that, now that he thought about it.

“You obviously like her.”

Jay made a choking sound in his throat to deny Morro’s claims, even though they were true. Painstakingly, love is crap, true.

“No I don’t.”

Morro snorted, shoving his hands into the pocket of his black denim jacket. “A piece of advice, Walker. Move faster.”

Then he walked off, cool as a cucumber, and left Jay wondering how his life had gone to shit so quickly.

When Jay looked back at his locker, he noticed something strange. The back panel wasn’t straight, it was crooked.  _ Like Skylor’s locker _ , he realised. Cautiously, he pushed the metal backing with the tips of his fingers, and it creaked, moving backwards. With a quick look around left and right, Jay deemed it safe (now  _ he  _ was doing the thing?), so he shoved the panel harder and it fell backward into the room with a loud  _ clang _ . Wide-eyed, he checked again to make sure no one was there, then he hopped through the locker, fiddled with the locker door and entered the room. He left the panel on the floor, not bothered to fix it up just then.

Jay got himself a can of soda from the mini fridge and curled up into a ball on the beanbags, shivering slightly in the cold of the room. He tightened his scarf and then burrowed down into the beanbags like a mole, sipping on his fizzy grape juice as he decided to skip class. It was History anyway, and Mr Jones would be occupied by fielding questions on the fight and proclaiming his new status as ‘fight-breaker-upper’. The history teacher was fairly new at Ninjago High and spent a painfully long time trying to prove to the students that he was ‘cool’.

Just as Jay thought about eating some comfort noodles and working on the video game (he decided against the latter, because that would be helping Cole  _ and  _ Kai), another panel flew out of the wall and clattered to the ground. In stepped Lloyd, Serpents jacket inside-out as if it would conceal his house. Lloyd didn’t notice Jay nestled amongst the pillows and beanbags, because he went to get a drink and was about to sit down when he saw Jay in a self-pity ball.

“Crap! Sorry Jay, didn’t see you there.”

Jay mumbled something even he didn’t understand under his breath in response, choosing to huddle down further in the bean bags.

“Oh.” Lloyd seemed to realise why Jay was so depressed. He sat down next to Jay, popping the top off his soda. “I still can’t believe Nya kissed Cole.”

Jay raised a notched brow at the rather insensitive words. 

Lloyd decided to stay silent, and Jay’s voice was surprisingly hoarse when he spoke.

“Do you think… that they’re actually...y’know... _ dating _ ?” The word ‘dating’ made his stomach do a gymnastics routine.

Lloyd paused from his chugging. “I hope not.”

Jay’s eyebrows went up again, asking for an explanation. He cursed himself for being so short, because it was a struggle to get out of the beanbags with small legs. 

“I was rooting for you two,” Lloyd started, staring at the blank, slightly cracked screen of the TV. “I never thought  _ that  _ would happen.”

“I hope they aren’t.” Jay said timidly, feeling awfully vulnerable. “I didn’t see this coming, I mean, someone would have asked her out at some point, I know, but I was planning to swoop in all majestic and sweep her off the feet with something big and romantic.” He let a tear roll down his cheek. “And then Morro, and the bullying, and I can’t tell if they’re actually dating, because, they freaking  _ kissed  _ and I—”

Lloyd looked paralysed, as if he was trying to figure how to deal with Jay ranting.

“And I’ve liked her for  _ so, so  _ long, and I couldn’t tell if she liked me back or not, ‘cause it would be so embarrassing if she friendzoned me, but she basically has, hasn’t she? Oh, and now that Morro noticed I was ‘pining’ after her, he’s probably going to tell everyone and they’ll bully me even more. I hope Cole and Kai die in a ditch somewhere—”

“Woah, woah,” Lloyd held up his hands to stop Jay’s blabbering. “You don’t really want them dead-dead, right?”

“Kai lets his stupid friends bully me, Cole just stands there doing nothing, and then he kissed Nya, so…”

_ Did  _ he want them dead?

Jay fell silent.

“You’re being bullied?”

Jay hadn’t realised he’d let that slip. “Nooooo?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

Okay, Lloyd didn’t buy his lie.

“And why have we never, y’know, seen…”

“Me being bullied?” Jay laughed, a cruel, cold noise that was foreign to his ears. “Lloyd, my family is broke, I’m president of the STEAM club, I’m a world-class nerd, I live in a freaking  _ junkyard  _ and now they probably know I have a crush on Nya.” He caught his breath, short of a gasp. “I’m the perfect target. It takes me an  _ hour  _ to get home so they have plenty of time to ambush me.”

“I—I didn’t know…” Lloyd looked truly sorry, his head bowed and his face pale. 

“You wouldn’t have found out unless I told you,” Jay said in a gentler tone, sinking back into the beanbags. 

“So, it’s Chad, Morro, and the rest of the popular kids right?” Lloyd cracked his knuckles and stood up, implying something very dangerous which Jay knew reeked of more fighting.

“Lloyd, you can’t fight them for me.”

“Why not?”

“Well for one, you’re basically a green bean,” Lloyd looked taken aback and mock-scowled. “And if you fought them, they’d know I told you. I haven’t talked to  _ anyone  _ else about this, okay? You’ve listened to me panic for long enough. Anything on your mind kiddo?” 

“Okay.” Lloyd muttered reluctantly, seeing the reasoning in Jay’s words and sitting back down. “I do have a question for you. And can you all stop calling me kiddo?”

“Sorry kid, no can do.” Jay felt a bit of happiness return to him. Maybe he could get through this if he joked everything off?

Lloyd huffed like a grumpy eighty-year old grandpa. “Why am I following Harumi?”

“Oh, that?” Lloyd following Harumi on Instagram was something he could really laugh at. “Kai and You-Know-Who—”

“Lord Voldemort?”

“You know full well who I’m talking about Bean Boy, so shut up and listen unless you want me to start yelling again.”

Lloyd made another grumbling noise, and true to his childish nickname, he crossed his arms and buried himself deeper in the beanbags.

“Anyway, they just thought it’d be a funny prank when you finally noticed that you somehow tried to follow her and she still hadn’t accepted the follow request.” Jay watched carefully for Lloyd’s reaction, but his friend remained impassive. A skill he’d learnt from poker-face Zane, maybe.

“She followed me.” Lloyd whispered.

“She did?” Jay said somewhat dubiously. 

Lloyd pulled up the proof on his phone.

“Holy macaroni, she did actually follow you!”

“Why is that so hard to believe?” He rolled his eyes. “And guess what, she requested to follow  _ me  _ back.”

“Okay, no way—” Jay grabbed the phone from Lloyd. “Is this photoshopped?”

“What? No.”

“Okay!” Jay, with a cheery smile, tapped the  _ accept  _ button.

“JAY!” shrieked Lloyd, tearing his phone out of Jay’s hands while Jay laughed, rolling around on the beanbags clutching his stomach.

“Sorry, sorry.” Jay wiped the tears out his eyes, trying not to burst into laughter again at Lloyd huddled over his phone, furiously jabbing at the screen.

“Why won’t it let her unfollow me?” whined Lloyd.

“New Instagram protocol?” suggested Jay with a slight grin. Oh, how nice it was to have a non-backstabbing-not crush kissing friend like Zane who could be guilted into tweaking a few things in Lloyd’s phone.

“At least you feel better now.”

“Yeah,” Jay slurped the last of his drink. “I guess I do.”

“If those bullies ever—”

“Drop it, Lloyd.” Jay ordered sternly, his stomach dropping. He really could use Lloyd’s help, and his last name too, but if they found out… it would just get worse. “Now you know two of my secrets which you really shouldn’t, so I think we’re even.”

“Still can’t believe Nya doesn’t like you.” 

Something fell to the ground towards the back and Jay jumped to his feet.

“Jay likes  _ Nya _ ?” screeched Skylor, stuck halfway through her locker in shock, looking like she was about to pass out.

_ Second of the day,  _ Jay thought grimly.

Lloyd laughed nervously, and Jay hit him in the stomach. It wasn’t like his day could possibly get any worse, so he turned to Skylor, held up his hands in a shrug and said:

“Surprise?”

**A/N: i normally don’t do this, but for Jay’s POV, the song i connect it with Heather by Conan Grey, specifically the lyrics** **_‘I wish I were Heather’_ ** **. I really didnt want to super overplay jay’s reaction because the kiss was totally out of the blue and he doesnt really have many other reasons to be mad. Yet. TEA WILL KEEP BUILDING MY FRIENDS and yeah, this was totally in jay’s pov and i love reading your comments. And next post, get ready for some new stuff :) ! i just noticed this chapter is l o ng gosh and we don't get enough of jay and Lloyd being bros, its a crime. and guess what? astra is my of from another story which I have deleted, so keep an eye out for more from her ;) Thanks for 400 reads here and 200 reads on my oneshots**


	13. [12] Cafeteria sausage = gross, 0/10, would never eat again

**astra**

Astra’s phone was on fire. Alright, that was a bit of an exaggeration but it was heating up like crazy from the insane amount of notifications she was getting. She’d been standing in the crowds, trying to make her way to sport when the big commotion started. Way back in the crowd, standing on a bench, she saw Nya Smith kiss Coal, wait, no, was it Cole? Brookstone, and the students' reaction was absolutely priceless.

Now, Astra wasn’t one to get into drama. Fine, that was a lie, but this was the most action Ninjago High had since she’d started high school. Specifically, the notifications were from the school’s biggest gossip account she was following. At lunch, she finally had time to scroll through all the comments and posts. Whether to like something so….ugh, remained to be seen.

**[On my Wattpad, the Instagram posts I've created are there, and I'm too dumb to figure out how to do it on ao3 so if you'd like to see them, head over to my Wattpad @dommiewrites]**

And that wasn’t even the worst of it. Astra felt bad for both parties, but she didn’t know both sides of the story. Instagram tea accounts could only provide her with so much information. She needed to meet Rema and get her cookie box back anyway, so she stood up, let her phone continue buzzing and walked off to the cafeteria. 

“Yo, your lip is bleeding!” noticed Kade.

“Sorry—sorry—sorry.” Astra murmured, holding up her hand to touch her lips. When they came back down it was stained red. The cut must have reopened again.

“Why are you apologising?” called Kade as she moved through the wave of people. 

Astra ignored his calls as she brushed past a crowd, wrapping her jacket around her tighter to cushion her rib cage. Astra tugged down on the cuffs of her Dragons jacket, wincing as her fingers brushed past the blues and purples cuffing her wrists.

She was getting good at hiding them, but you could never be too careful. At least it was cold, and she had excuses for long sleeves and scarves.

**skylor**

After the initial shock wore off, Skylor sifted through all her memories with Jay’s bumbling interactions near Nya and almost slapped herself. It was so _obvious_ once you heard it aloud. She was currently sitting to the left of Jay, Lloyd on his right as Jay ran through his concerns and worries all over again.

Skylor sipped on some fizzy grape juice, the last of the dwindling supply since Jay was on his second, and Lloyd on his third.

“You skipped all of fourth period,” she commented, watching for Jay’s reaction. Her friend seemed to be feeling better, he’d obviously been cheered up by Lloyd (who was usually a moody grump or a child, so that was first).

“I know.” said Jay.

“Quite the rebel,” she replied dryly. Jay chuckled lightly. “Kai and Cole weren’t in fourth either.”

Jay made a disinterested sound in his throat, looking away with a frown on his face before carefully saying “Have you...talked to Nya?”

Skylor shook her head and slurped loudly from her can to break the now awkward silence. “She’s not in any of my other classes today, but I was supposed to meet her and Pixal for fro-yo after school.”

“And Cole?”

“I’m afraid my stalker skills aren’t up to par for him, so I have no idea where Rocky is going.”

“Rocky?” Lloyd cocked his head and reached for his fourth can. Skylor batted his hand back as she explained.

“I don’t know, he just seems like a Rocky.”

“Rocky’s not a real name,” countered Jay, pulling on a snake with his teeth so the green lolly stretched out.

“I want Pocky.” griped Lloyd out of the blue.

“What?” asked Jay, completely baffled.

“I want Pocky.” repeated Lloyd again with the nature of a child demanding sweets. “You know, the biscuit sticky things dipped in chocolate? I want those.”

“Sorry kid, we don’t have any of those.” Jay ruffled Lloyd’s hair in a big brother manner that Skylor found the rest of her friends often used when with Lloyd.

“I’m gonna go have lunch now…” Skylor trailed off as she stood up. “Are you guys coming?”

Jay took a deep breath and then stood up. “I can’t hide forever, can I?”

They all moved to the backs of their respective lockers, and just as Jay stepped into his, Skylor placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t know why Nya kissed Cole—”

“You-Know-Who.”

“But I’m getting both sides of the story before I ‘take sides’.” her eyes became pleading, lips curving down into a slight frown as she knit her brows in concern for Jay’s wellbeing. “Don’t talk to her until you feel ready, but I can’t help but feel biased towards her, she’s one of my best friends.”

“I understand Sky,” Jay said with a sad smile. “And don’t feel obligated to take sides at all, I doubt this is going to blow up at all. If anything, it’s going to be the fight unless Morro decides to spill the beans.”

“How does Morro know?”

“The dude’s got a sixth sense.” added Lloyd who was already out in the hallway. “I hate it when he comes over to my house, he always knows where my sweet stash is.”

Jay nodded again, though it seemed to be a confirmation for himself, a nod of confidence and _I’ve got this_ because if there was one thing Skylor had learnt very quickly in high school, was that it was very easy to get beaten down, and it was so hard to get up again.

Even if you didn’t want to, you had to get up and keep moving.

Life was like that.

o o o

Skylor was waiting in line with her lunch tray, watching with a grossed out expression as the lunch ladies slopped a runny scoop of mashed potatoes onto her plate.

“Move along!” barked the lady sharply.

Skylor did just that but faster than anticipated which meant she stumbled into the back of the person in the line in front of her.

“Sorry—” her apology was cut off when the recipient of a tray-in-the-back turned around. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Don’t sound so excited to see me love,”

“Yes, because I’m not excited to see you Liam.”

Watching Mean Girls was paying off.

“Hey, how about I take you out for dinner tomorrow and then maybe you’ll start being excited to see me?”

“I—uh,”

“She’ll go,” said a sweet voice from behind Skylor. Her previously gaping mouth shut real quick, because standing there was Harumi. AKA, the girl who ditched her on the first day of school.

“I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty then, Chen. Text me your address.” He plucked her phone out from between her books and entered his number, he then picked up his garlic bread then walked away coolly, leaving Skylor rooted to the spot holding up the line of very, very hungry students.

Harumi less-then gently shoved Skylor along, then guided her to a table filled with very snooty, nose upturned girls. Skylor left her tray on the table and turned to Harumi with a wild look in her eyes.

“Why did you do that?”

“Oh hush, Liam’s a very nice boy, trust me, I know, besides you need to get out and about girl!”

“I do not need to get ‘ _out and about_ ’ I am perfectly fine doing what I’m doing—” Once again, Skylor was cut off as Harumi handed her makeup product after makeup product.

“These are just for now, don’t complain, I’ve barely used them, they’re my back-up back ups. Right, Liam is meeting you at seven-thirty which means _you_ need to start getting ready at… six, maybe? Six thirty if you absolutely must, so I expect you to be showered by half past six, I’ll come over and pick out your outfit and help you do your makeup—”

“Why are you helping me?” Skylor was still refusing to believe that a) she was now going on a date with Liam and b) Harumi had turned over a very worrying new leaf and was acting like Skylor’s BFF as if she hadn’t abandoned her on her first day.

“Sky-Sky,” Skylor flinched at that and wondered if you could crush a metal bench with your bare hands. “I want to apologise for leaving you on your first day. Truly.” Harumi looked at her with doleful eyes, flipping back her hair. “Something very important came up and I _had_ to leave.”

“It’s okay.” Skylor murmured, although she did not feel that it was _okay_. However, it was easier to just let Harumi do her thing.

“Great! Now, what’s your address?” Harumi’s rueful expression was replaced with one of pure glee as she clapped her hands together.

Skylor clamped her lips together.

“Aw, it doesn’t matter if your house only has two floors hon, it’s okay.”

“Quite the opposite, actually.” snapped Skylor. “It’s Lily Avenue.”

Harumi’s fingers were hovering over the keys of her phone. “Number?”

“Don’t have one.” If she was going to go through with this, might as well make the most of it. And subtly make it clear she and Harumi weren’t friends.

“I’m sorry, what?” Harumi’s two best cronies, Michelle and Brittney leaned in as they reapplied their mascara in tiny compact mirrors.

“I don’t have a house number. Just show up on the Charles Street end of Lily Avenue and I’ll get security to let you in.” Harumi’s mouth hung open. “Ta-ta.” Skylor wiggled her fingers in goodbye and kept her pleased smile to herself.

Skylor stood up, not forgetting to take her tray with her and walked over to an empty table on the other side of the cafeteria and then promptly collapsed onto the bench as if her spine were of overcooked spaghetti.

“What the hell just happened?” She muttered to herself, checking her phone for the time. Her eyes widened at the hundreds of notifications assaulting her poor BorgPhone, as well as one from Liam and Harumi. _Uh, how did she get my number?_

Skylor noticed immediately that she’d been added to a new group chat amongst the other messages flooding in.

**\- i need a bad (bleep) addison rae -**

_i put da muffins in da freezer changed their name to i am a bad (bleep) addison rae_

**brains of the operation:** _jay, may i ask why you have created another group chat? I believe we already have another named who in the hell put da muffins in da freezer?_

 **i am a bad (bleep) addison rae:** _i just thought we needed a non-violent kissy free space to converse_

 **lil green bean:** _jay stop using big words like converse_

 **i am a bad (bleep) addison rae:** _right i forgot youre still in third grade_

 **lil green bean:** _haha, no. at least i don’t look like I’m in third grade_

 **i am a bad (bleep) addison rae:** _YOU DID NOT ITS NOT MY FAJULT IM SH O R T_

 **cool, calm and collected:** _i see no point in having another chat as the other one is perfectly fine. that is, unless you are avoiding Nya, Cole, and Kai?_

Skylor went to the contacts list and was not surprised to find the mentioned students absent from the chat.

 **i am a bad (bleep) addison rae:** _look, is it a crime to not get involved with drama? wouldnt you guys rather steer clear through it all and not end up on the school gossip acc?_

 **brains of the operation:** _if our intention is to not get involved in the current drama it is not a bad idea_

 **i am a bad (bleep) addison rae:** _ZANE! Are you suggesting i have bad ideas?_

 **Me:** _regularly motormouth. You wanted us to try out your pie warmer and edna’s pie e x p l o d e d_

 **i am a bad (bleep) addison rae:** _in my defense it was in testing phase noodle lady_

 **lil green bean:** _skylor, why arent you sitting with us?_

She looked up from her hunchback position over her lunch tray to see Lloyd and Jay waving like two geeks a couple of tables down. She held back a snort at their idiotic antics. Skylor also noticed Cole and Nya sitting at a small table in the furthest corner of the cafeteria opposite each other with very tense expressions as they talked. Kai was sitting with the jocks, showing off his injuries like a show horse or one of those pigs that win the weight prize at county fairs.

She supposed Cole would be sitting with the jocks as well, but under the ongoing commotion spreading through the school like wildfire it was a good idea she had to admit on his part, steering clear of everything. Either that, or those two spending more time together would just be adding wood to the fire.

 **Me:** _ugh ill be over in a sec hold on_

Skylor dropped her phone onto her stack of books and balanced her tray and books as she walked over. She sat down at their spacious table, and with Cole and Nya gone there was plenty of room.

“Sorry, I got held up at the lunch line.” She forked up some sausage and immediately spat out the first bite. Zane thumped her on the back as she gratefully accepted some water from Pixal. 

“How about we all meet up at Mother Doomday’s Comix after school?” suggested Jay with a smile that seemed a little too cheery.

Pixal winced, pushing her own tray of mush away. “Well, Nya, Skylor and I were supposed to get fro-yo after school…”

“We can do that!” jumped in Jay, his smile stretching even further, just adding to the creepy effect. “Comics and fro-yo! Yay!”

“ _Actually_ , Jay, how about you, Lloyd and Zane go to Mother Doomsday? Pixal and I need to talk to Nya after school.”

“We do?”

“Yes,” Skylor said pointedly. “I heard there was a new Fritz Donnegan comic out.” She didn’t know if there was, but there seemed to be one out every other day. 

Lloyd and Jay launched into an animated conversation over the latest issue, pulling Zane in along with them. She took this opportunity to have a hushed talk with Pixal, who still seemed very confused over the drama and the reactions it provoked.

“Pix, we need to get Nya’s side of the story.” In sync, they swivelled their heads to survey Nya and Cole’s conversation from afar. “We should text her asking if we’re still doing fro-yo.”

“Okay. You do it.”

“No, you do it.”

“You do it.”

“You do it.”

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

A few texts and some wary looks across the cafeteria later, Pixal confirmed the three of them were meeting up after school. Boy, Skylor had a full afternoon.

**A/N: jeepers these chapters are getting l o n g er and l o n g e r. This one is 2.5k words tho the next might be shorter? Idk. i hope you enjoyed actually seeing those instagram posts (hopefully they loaded!) i also wanted to say that chapters may be coming out less frequently, maybe 2x a week depending on how im feeling because school is starting up soon. I have plenty of ideas, dont worry, just gotta figure out how to tie it all together. And my oc astra was an interesting addition to the pov list which has inspired me to try out more than just the eight of them. As for the main eight getting their powers? *laughs* hold on tight folks, time for some t r a u m a.**


	14. [13] Kai yeets vegetables

**nya**

Was it okay if she cried in front of everyone? Absolutely not. Lunch might have been the hardest part of her already fucked-up day. At least in classes, people were either shushed or forced to talk to her. Since the  _ incident _ , it had become quite clear how the student body was reacting. There were the haters, the gossips, and the people who quite frankly, did not give a shit. She liked those people the most. 

She’d turned off the comments on the few posts up on her social media, double checked all her accounts were on private and tried not to talk to anyone. Nya was quite unsuccessful with that, and had deflected several comments such as;

“What a  _ slut _ .”

“Ugh, she’s so lucky she’s dating Cole.”

“Do you think she’s hooked up with other boys as well?”

“Ahhhh! They’re so cute together!”

There were a surprising amount of...shippers, dare she say it. And the only reason was because, well, she and Cols were actually dating. Okay, fake-dating. But they’d thought it through, a lot, and had eventually come to the same result. Pretending to date meant several rules that Nya had thought of. 

The most important:

Rule number three: remember this is a  _ fake  _ relationship. No feelings. 

And Nya had run through the pros and cons so many times in her head she knew each point and counter argument off by heart. Dating would mean Chad wouldn’t hit on her, people wouldn’t call them out for being liars, Cole would have some unknown benefit he insisted that was a positive for him.

Either way, people would hate her.

She was currently waiting in a back booth of Fro-You (a terrible pun on Fro-Yo Jay would have claimed as his own). Nya hadn’t ordered yet - she didn’t want to stress eat an entire large-sized fro-yo. The sweet chimes of the bells rang as the door opened. She stuck her head around the side of the lime green cushion and spotted Skylor and Pixal. Popping her head up, she gave a little nervous wave which they returned equally nervously judging by their smiles.

_ They hate me _ , Nya thought, the voice in her head full of remorse. She just needed to explain everything properly.

Pixal and Skylor slid into the seat opposite her, making Nya feel like this was some sort of negotiation between two warring countries.

“You want to order anything?” Her voice was soft and cautious - why was she talking like this? These were her best friends and she shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around them.

Skylor nodded and stood up. “What do you guys want?”

Nya gave Skylor her order and rapped her fingers on the linoleum table top as Skylor collected their fro-yo. She tapped her small plastic spoon on the rim of the fro-yo carton, waiting for the others to eat her first. It technically wasn’t fro-yo, really a sorbet, but she’d had this exact flavour everytime and it was, in her opinion, the best flavour. 

It was also her mother’s favourite, and for a boring old accountant, this had a lot of sugar in it. Just plain sorbet with fudge sauce drizzled over and a few chunks of fudgy brownie stuck in the side. The nerves seemed to run rings around Nya’s stomach, and she watched the water in the plastic cooler swirl around of its own accord. No one else was in the shop except for the Fro-You workers and her friends, so she ignored what must have been a new feature and turned to her friends.

“So,” Nya started, her spoon dangling over the fudge swirl.

“So,” continued Pixal, looking down at her mango cup, the middle already demolished.

“I guess you want an explanation?”

The problem was, the explanation would be watered down and vague at best, leaving out a simple fact Nya couldn’t figure out if she was ashamed or happy about.

She did find Cole  _ attractive  _ to say the least.

Then she’d gone and made up rule number three.

No feelings. Whatsoever.

**zane**

“She lied! There isn’t a new issue!” cried Jay as he sorted through the shelves of Doomsday Comix’s Starfarer section. “You shouldn't lie about Starfarer. That’s sacred stuff.”

Lloyd nodded furiously, sitting on one of the square pouffes whilst flicking through an older issue. 

“If you boys are looking for something new to read, I suggest the  _ Realm Raider  _ series.” Mother Doomsday leaned against the shelves, one had propped up, his blue shirt pulled up a little too much as it exposed an unnecessary amount of bare skin.

“What’s Realm Raider?” asked Lloyd curiously, abandoning the Starfarer comic.

“It’s about this girl—”

“ _ Girl? _ ” 

“Shut up Jay,”

“And just like the title says, she’s a Realm Raider. She can travel through realms and she fights monsters and gains friends along the way. If you like Starfarer, you’ll definitely like Realm Raider.” Mother Doomsday pulled out a copy from behind his back like a magician. A puff of smoke, and Zane reckoned it would have done the trick. 

“I’ll take it.” jumped in Lloyd, snatching  _ Realm Raider  _ from Mother Doomday’s hands eagerly, replacing it with a few dollar bills. He sat back down on the pink pouffe and read the blurb, running a finger over the glossy artwork on the front cover.

Zane was about to ask for Lloyd’s opinion and synopsis on the first few pages when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He reached into his vest pocket and unlocked the BorgPhone using the facial recognition technology his internship had actually worked on.

**\- father -**

**Father:** _ Zane, please come home right now. It’s an emergency _

**Me:** _ Father, is everything okay? _

**Father:** _ just please come home son _

Zane’s fingers froze over the keys. What was so important that his dad needed him to come home for? His straightforward messages were the complete opposite of the usual vague, ditzy answers Zane received.

Something was wrong.

“I—I gotta go.” Zane mumbled, pushing the #83 Starfarer that he’d barely read into Jay’s hands. He dashed out of the door and saw the bus leaving for his house already trundling away. With a disgruntled sigh, Zane picked up the pace after it, the steady  _ thump thump  _ ringing in his ears as footstep after footstep slammed into the pavement.

He arrived precisely fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds later in a quaint neighbourhood inspired by the Birchwood Forests, using the wood from the forest itself, combined with cool tones and identical houses with tiny front gardens lined with white picket fences. Zane stepped over the low fence easily with his long legs and his foot landed on a large rock. His ankle twisted and a jolt of pain shot through his leg. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the throbbing pain and unlocked the door, his heart pounding.

“Father?” The entrance hallway was empty of life, only their coats hanging on the hooks for the ever growing chill.  _ He must be in his room. _

Zane walked down the length of the hallway unwinding his grey scarf until he reached the end door. He paused to knock on it, and with no reply, he pushed it open.

There sat his father, beside a boy who looked remarkably like Zane.

“Who’s that?” Zane said stupidly, examining the newcomer, who was doing the exact same to Zane using judging eyes.

His father took in a deep breath which insinuated the news was big.

“Zane, I’d like you to meet Evan,”

His father found the need to add something else Zane decided he could have left out entirely.

“Julien.”

**kai**

His cut lip looked pretty cool, he wasn’t going to lie, and if paired with a black eye then he would look straight out of an action movie. Kai exclaimed himself in the mirror, cocking his head to touch the scar that sliced through his left eyebrow. A stupid accident as a kid that left him with a wicked scar. He remembered it as plain as day.

_ Tiny Kai, young enough that Nya was only just beginning to toddle about on chubby legs. Really, his mother shouldn’t have left the step stool by the kitchen island. He stepped on with a little trouble, holding his hands out for balance before latching them on to the lip of the wooden top. Kai brought his head up as his feet moved for the second step and he almost slipped, only to be caught by clutching the metal rung they used for dishcloths.  _

_ With a sigh that Ray often used when Kai fell off the merry-go round, he looked over the items on the counter. There was one very big, flashy thing, and Kai would see the tousle of his brown hair, the glint of his green eyes reflected back at him. Then there was a large orange thing that Kai detested greatly - a carrot. Without another thought, he seized the vegetable and flung it behind him, smiling as he heard the ‘plonk’ when it landed in the sink. _

_ There was also an onion, which Kai didn’t like because it stung at his eyes and made them water. He chucked that back into the sink as well and hoped his mother wouldn’t make a fuss at the dinged up vegetables that had magically moved to the sink. He was just about to bite into a long purple thing he vaguely remembered was an eggplant when a roar split through the house. _

_ “KAIDEN SMITH!” _

_ Ah, his father must have found his briefcase in the sandpit. In the second between his realisation and the shout, Kai’s feet, uncoordinated, decided to move of their own accord. His feet moved back and his head slammed into the counter, a piercing pain slicing through somewhere on his head-the pain was blinding and the throbbing was quickly spreading, and he could faintly realise that it was blood, the red liquid trickling down his forehead, when he passed out. _

_ When he’d woken up it had been to a swimming white ceiling he recognised as his bedroom, and his sister was curled up beside him, her hair in a short bob tickling his neck. Kai reached up gingerly to the pain in his forehead, running short little fingers over the bumps of stitches cutting directly through his eyebrows. Someone knocked at the door, then pushed it open. Recognising the familiar pace of the footsteps, he looked up to see his mother frowning slightly down at him. _

_ “Oh Kai-Bear, why can’t you stay out of trouble?” _

_ “I’m sorwy Mama,” He paused, not wanting to wake his slumbering sister. “I just wanted to see over the counter.” _

_ “So adventurous,” Maya chuckled, gently running a hand through Kai’s hair lovingly. “Just like your father.” _

_ Now, even little Kai knew how boring being an acc-oun-tant was. He had sounded out the word in his head, it being his turn to frown, he answered “But...he’s an acc-ccoontunt.” _

_ “Accountant,” his mother corrected, brushing a bit of fringe out of Kai’s eyes. “Why do you say that?” _

_ “It’s a bowing job.” _

_ “Yes, it is quite boring.” She looked out of the window with a little laugh where Ray was shaking sand out of his bag with an exasperated expression. _

_ “Why’d you do it then?” _

_ “Well my little cub, sometime, you have to do things you don’t want to do to keep the people you love safe.” _

_ “But we’re safe?” _

_ His mother chuckled again. “Don’t touch your stitches again, okay? Or they’ll open up. And please, my baby bear, don’t go near knives again. Your father and I nearly had a heart attack.” _

_ He was young enough to know that heart attacks were bad. _

_ “I’m sowy.” _

_ Sometimes his r’s disappeared and were replaced with w’s, and he hated it. _

_ “I know. I love you.” _

_ “Love you too Mama.” _

_ Then she left, shutting the door quietly behind her, leaving Kai to ponder upon the strange conversation and the equally strange day. _

**A/N: alright yes I know its a filler chapter but I cant churn out tea every chapter my dudes. other news, its so fricking hot here and it was legit raining the other day like dude??? oh, and of course MOS isn't showing up on tags or ranks which is f a n t a s t I c. wattpad says they've already fixed it, no hun, you haven't. and yes I know I said I might be posting less but I got a weird burst of inspiration (I work best at night) and I have three chapters prepared (one of them is this) and I'm working on the fourth. peace out my dudes :)**


	15. [14] iS iT AbOuT BoYs?

**cole**

His face hurt, a lot. He couldn’t go home looking like this, giving his father yet another reason to throw a disappointed, less than subtle insult his way. Cole flexed his fingers on his right hand, brushing his other thumb over the mottled bruising blooming there. Standing at the bus stop, he glanced down the straggly line of other students whispering to each other.

He was so stupid.

Why’d he even  _ think  _ about opening his big, fat, stupid mouth anyway?

It almost hurt as much as the time he’d attempted, and failed at performing the Triple Tiger Sashay. The pinnacle of his disastrous achievements. He caught Nya’s eye as she headed off in the direction of the mall, sending her a smile accompanied by the crinkles of his eyes. Cole hoped that was enough for everyone to feed on for more gossip. 

The bus eventually made its way to the stop, the driver reluctantly opening the doors, tipping down his hat and wincing as the babble of talking grew louder and louder as each student stepped onboard. Cole deliberately plonked himself in the lone seat at the front and slid on his headphones, leaning against the window with a relaxed sigh as the tension noticeably left his shoulders.

He wasn’t too concerned over this ‘dating’. They’d date for a few weeks at most, break up silently and wait for some new drama to take over the school. Cole saw Nya as a little sister, slightly annoying, sure, but a little sister. She didn’t seem too invested in this, but then again, Cole had been told he was exceptionally obtuse when it came to feelings.

Most students had long left the bus, leaving Cole, the driver and a few students towards the back to sit in an uncomfortable silence.  _ At least I have my music.  _ His fingers traced over the rim of his phone cover, absentmindedly adding in taps with the beat of the song. Then the bus sank down as its doors opened with a woosh, and Cole stepped out, nodding to the driver in thanks. It was a five minute walk from the stop to his house, and Cole wished he could slow down time.

His father wasn’t happy with him before he left for school, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to be any happier when Cole got home. He began his walk dragging his feet along, much to Mrs O’Conner’s annoyance, and he had to run past her house to avoid being pelted by a volley of rock-hard cookies. Stopping a house shy from his, Cole swept his hair over his black eye in a poor attempt to cover it, and touched the bruise along his jaw, pressing it tenderly and grimacing at the pain.

He unlocked the door, not before pressing an ear to it and listening for the muffled hum of the piano keys and harmonizing quartet. Good. His father would be distracted for a while. Carefully, he tip-toed inside, pilfered a slice of chocolate cake he’d been saving in the fridge and remembered the grab a fork. When he was in the safety of his room, door locked, he set the plate down and flopped onto his bed.

His stomach grumbled, but his limbs and bones were zapped of energy, so from across the room, he reached out a hand and wiggled his fingers towards the cake on the desk pathetically. On his way back from retrieving the cake, he stopped by his mirror to see if his father would notice the new hairstyle when he nearly choked.

The bruises were gone.

The plate fell from his hands as his fingers pushed and prodded at the healed skin where it once had been mottled black and blue. It smashed on the ground, but Cole barely acknowledged it as he exclaimed the bruise-free area circling his eye.  _ How?  _ Seconds ago he’d been racking his brain for ways to disguise it, and boom! They were gone. He sat back on his bed in a daze, half noticing the door fly open and his father stomp in.

“Cole.”

Over the years, Cole had noticed how different his father’s anger was to other people’s. Instead of loud, it was quiet, holding Cole’s attention barely above a whisper. What was even worse was how his words reeked of  _ disappointment  _ and how his seething, silent anger seemed to hurt Cole more. It was like a whip, Col realised. It struck hard, it wasn’t flashy, but it stung.

“What is this?” Lou pointed down the fragments of the plate and the cake crumbs littering the carpeted floor. 

“I—uh—”

“Clean it up,” his father’s eyes swept across the room and he adjusted his red tie. “And I sent you that email about your school’s dance team. Have you signed up yet?”

Cole bowed his head. This was possibly worse than Lou discovering Cole had been in a fight. “I...haven’t. Yet.”

“I expect you to have signed up once you finish your homework and when the quartet leaves I will be heating up last night’s soup.”

His father failed to mention the fact they’d been eating the same soup for a week.

“Okay.”

Lou left frowning, as usual and Cole carefully scooped up the plate and cake and tossed it into the bin and frowned as he discovered an array of brown-grey pebbles scattered along with crumbs. His room was tidy because of his dad, and the rocks would have drawn his attention. Maybe he brought them in with his shoes or something. Cole thought he was imagining it - the rumble beneath his feet as he exhaled, but as soon as he focused on something else it disappeared. Today had been nothing short of strange.

He’d tried, tried  _ so  _ hard to pretend that email hadn’t been sent to avoid auditions, yet here he was, sending an email to the dance coordinator praying they’d say the team was full. Cole held his breath as the email sent before getting his homework, and got his mix playing so at least  _ one  _ thing today went right.

**skylor**

Okay,  _ maybe,  _ she forgot she had her ‘date’ with Liam, but in her defense, she didn’t want to go, and the only reason she remembered was because Harumi was sending notification after notification to attack her phone for ideas on outfits.

She really should have cancelled.

Then, just as she was about to type out a less than gentle ‘ _ Can’t go, sorry’  _ , the little white bubble popped up, the three dots bobbing up and down when she received: 

_ 😘🌹 see you tonight _

And she chickened out. Besides, she still had enough time to talk with Nya and Pix to get Clouse to pick her up from the mall. Skylor tossed her empty carton into the bin and walked back to the girls, her stomach in turmoil as her mind battled with the idea of telling her friends about her impromptu dinner that night.  _ It’s only fair,  _ she decided as she sat back down,  _ Nya told us everything...or did she?  _ Skylor could tell the girl was holding back certain pieces of information that would have been nice to know. But she knew not to press Nya, because she looked on the verge of tears and she’d managed to gobble down two of those sorbets things in the mere hour they’d been there.

Nya’s explanation was skimmed over at best, as she’d often paused at words and stopped swirling her spoon around.

“Cole and I are...dating.”

“Well that solves it then.” Pixal said dryly, whipping out a tone she rarely used.

“How long?” Skylor dared to ask.

Nya seemed unprepared for that answer. “Since you...came to school?”

“Ah.”

“Do you like him like that?” Pixal’s questions were a bit more straightforward, as they always had been. A similarity between Pixal and Zane. It was a lack of subtlety that was more often unnerving than helpful.

“Ye-es.”

The drawn out confirmation had Skylor raising a red brow.

“The whole thing at lunch, you don’t think Davis took it a bit far?” Skylor asked, tacking onto Pixal’s blunt question tactic. “Shouldn’t your  _ boyfriend  _ have stepped in a bit quicker?”

“He knew I could handle myself, and when he thought I needed help he stepped in.” Nya started on her third carton. 

Just then, the bell trilled again and the door swung open. Nya sighed loudly as a mop of brown hair made it’s way over to the counter to order. The three girls made a silent decision to ignore him and move to a different topic. Their plan was foiled, however, when he collected his order, spotted them and started walking over.

“You’re supposed to be at home, Kai.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to eat something.”

“We have plenty of food at home.”

“But I wanted fro-yo.” He tried pouting, which Skylor simply ignored to scroll through her phone.

He slid into the seat next to Nya, ending up opposite Skylor holding a fro-yo with just about every topping sprinkled on that screamed  _ sugar rush _ .

“So, what are you gals talking about?”

“No. Just. No.” Nya wrinkled her nose and Skylor and Pixal laughed quietly.

“Is it about  _ boys? _ ” Kai tried again, pitching his voice higher.

“No.” Skylor.

“Maybe.” Nya.

“We were talking about astrophysics.”

The last one came from Pixal, and they all looked at her. Sometimes, the smart girl could be a bit out of it. 

“All right, who are we dating?” Kai said in that ridiculous squeaky voice. They didn’t respond, because the question was quite obvious. Pixal had been dating Zane before Skylor had come to Ninjago High, and Kai had literally gotten into a fight earlier that day because he found out his sister was dating his best friend.

“Still going strong with Zane, Pixal?” He was now impersonating a therapist - a bad one at that, because in between his words he was shovelling spoonfuls of fro-yo into his mouth.

“As I expected,” he nodded, “My sister’s going out with a complete fucking prat, Skylor’s alone as usual and —”

“ _ Excuse me?”  _ cried Skylor and Nya in unison.

“Obviously, I have no idea how Pixal and Zane have bumbled along for this long —”

Pixal’s cry of annoyance came in there.

“I’d rather not think about my sister dating  _ anyone  _ really, but since she’s chosen to date a prat who’s basically my brother, I mean honestly, she could have chosen to kiss anyone else, I mean, even  _ Jay,  _ then, I would laugh, but I’ve already got detention for two weeks and talk with Wu so I can’t really do much now, can I?”

The girls were fuming, but Kai seemed oblivious to their growing anger.

“And it’s not like Skylor has much experience with boys.” His curt words hurt a bit more than expected, and Skylor kept her flinch internal.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I guess, being homeschooled doesn’t offer you a choice of handsome boys like me, does it?” He waved his spoon around carelessly, flicking a bit of Oreo crumb onto the wall. “A pity.”

She rolled her eyes “It doesn’t, thank the universe,” Some part of her was  _ glad  _ Liam had asked her out on a date and then she was immediately disgusted with herself. “I’ve got to go.”

“Why?” Skylor knew it was abrupt-they’d only been at the fro-yo place for just over an hour, but she might as well leave. She could feel her throat choking up - is that what her friends thought of her? A pity? Were they pitying her because she’d been locked up in a big house her whole life and could barely function in front of other people without snapping? She was trying  _ so  _ hard, but she was on the edge constantly, watching, waiting for something to go wrong. 

Her chest crumpled inside of her - she couldn’t keep doing this, pretending to understand everything going on, how everything  _ worked _ , trying to keep her father from driving himself over the edge from being a workaholic, she couldn’t keep masquerading at something she so desperately needed to talk to someone about. 

But that someone was dead.  Skylor left, calling for Clouse to pick her up with a sick feeling in her stomach, her head pounding and wishing, just wishing,  _ wishing  _ that the universe would have pulled her a favour all those years ago to keep her mother from dying.

**A/N: oh wow look its a slightly crappy chapter filled with _hints_. its a bit of a hc of mine that those with elemental powers always heal faster... anyways, Im trying to push through this big ass writers block with school as well. sometimes i swear the school thinks we're machines. I've been fiddling with the cover of mos and the sequel ' _a little bit messed up'_ (the title is a work in progress), so if you see the cover change randomlt then that's my usual fickle self.** **also wanted to remind yall that mos contains some sensitive content, as always, swearing, but any tw will be mentioned at the start of the chapter and in italics before a certain paragraph. you'll see more of evan and zane next chapter, and if you didn't know evan julien = echo zane.**


	16. [15] Brother from another mother, but like, actually

**zane**

“Julien?”

The boy - Evan, cowered his head and Zane took a step back. He hadn’t meant to be threatening in the least but his emotions were spiralling out of his control. 

Zane tried again, his tone softer and gentler. “Is he my brother?” It seemed to be the most logical explanation, the similarities, their pale hair and skin, high cheekbones and ice cold eyes people often mistook as menacing.

“Yes, well, sort of, almost.” Zane smiled to himself. At least his father’s usual bumbling self was back.

Evan had kept quiet the entire time, a thin grey blanket thrown over his shoulders. Zane’s father stood up, adjusting the lapels of his lab coat to open the door. Zane arched a brow expectantly.

“Oh, yes, I forgot—”

Zane couldn’t help but feel bad for Evan, seeing as he was used to his father being so scatterbrained, he sent the younger boy a reassuring look. It didn’t appear to do much, because Evan kept quiet.

“Evan is your younger brother from a different...mother.”

“Ah.”

“He was at a boarding school previously — his mother had sent him there, but recently she passed away and the school sent him here.”

If Evan was Zane’s  _ younger  _ brother, then how come Zane had never seen him before? He left the subject alone, he could sense Evan’s mere presence here was a touchy subject.

Dr Julien composed himself, tapping a finger on the leg of his thick rimmed glasses. “Zane, could you please show Evan around the house and then make dinner for us? He can stay in the guest bedroom, though I suppose it's his now isn’t it?”

Zane nodded, their father leaving to pour himself into his work yet again. Standing up, he nervously held out a hand for Evan to take. He’d never had a younger sibling before, and he didn’t exactly envy Nya and Kai for having a sibling relationship. Evan looked out the outstretched offering like an olive branch, gazing at it thoughtfully and Zane could almost see his crystal eyes softening as he placed a small hand inside Zane’s.

Zane started at the front garden, logically that would be the best place to begin, so he guided Evan through the house slowly. His house was two floors, small, but two floors high. Immediately to the left, after the coat hooks was the kitchen, connected to a small dining room they hardly ever used. To the right of the door was a living room holding an old threadbare couch and an ancient TV that hadn’t been turned on in years. Off that room, through a connecting door was a small library with floor to wall bookshelves, all stuffed to the point of overflowing with every type of book - hardcover, paperback, and it even boasted a rolling library ladder.

Dr Julien had snagged a random rug from a yard sale which depicted a battle scene he’d never talked about but Zane always thought it looked a bit gloomy, though the scene was faded it was clear it was filled with agony and pain. Most of it was covered up by two large armchairs and a low table anyway, so all he could see were shards of a sword, swirling darkness and a shoulder plate of golden, glowing armour.

“You can come here to read anytime you like. Father and I sometimes have tea in the library before bed, I suppose we could always find another chair for you.”

Evan didn’t respond, only ran a finger over the leather spines of some of the more expensive and worn volumes.

“Classics,” Zane said, feeling the need to explain, “ _ Alice in Wonderland _ ,  _ Oliver Twist _ ,  _ To Kill a Mockingbird _ ,  _ Pride and Prejudice _ .”

His brother nodded, pulling out  _ Oliver Twist  _ from its precarious perch balanced on top of  _ Einstein: A Discovery.  _

“You can read it.” Zane felt weird giving someone who supposedly was his brother permission to use something that really was his as well. “You can read anything in here.”

Evan let a small smile grow on his lips, cradling  _ Oliver Twist  _ closer to his chest. Zane proceeded to show him to his father’s bedroom at the end of the hallway, and Zane’s bedroom on the same side as the kitchen, and the guest room opposite it. Zane managed to convince Evan to leave  _ Oliver Twist  _ on the bedside table, though it was an awkward conversation as Zane was the only one speaking and Evan silently shook his head a lot.

“I was planning on making some mushroom soup with chicken tenders and some baked vegetables.”

When Evan didn’t respond, Zane decided to take a different approach.

“Can you grab the butter and mushrooms from the fridge?” Evan was already moving towards the stainless steel fridge when Zane remembered to use his own feet. His ankle was a bit sore, but most of the pain was gone; it was reduced to a background throb. From one of the higher cabinets, Zane brought down a massive binder full of printed recipes. He had memorized most of the recipes, a feat he was quite proud of, but Evan didn’t know it yet and Zane still felt uncomfortable giving out ‘orders’. Zane was sauteing the onion in butter and oil whilst Evan was carefully slicing mushrooms on the chopping board next to him when the flame under the pan fizzled out. 

He bent his neck to peer underneath at the burner to find a coat of  _ ice  _ choking the burner’s metal prongs. Zane frowned and brushed off the thin layer of ice, undisturbed by the unnatural cold that would have chilled anyone else to the bone. Evan scampered off to his room for a few minutes without a word while Zane tossed the mushrooms with flour to thicken the soup, adding thyme and stock to get the flavour going. When it was boiling, he sprinkled in salt, pepper and crumbled bouillon cubes, waiting for Evan to return.

Covering the pot with a lid so it could simmer, he began preparing the chicken tenders and vegetables as Evan re-entered the kitchen, his cheeks pink. Zane didn’t question his disappearance, only tapped on the title for the vegetables and hoped Evan wouldn’t chop his fingers off. The two worked in a strange, but mute silence, methodically moving through the instructions and timing everything perfectly. Zane had to restart the flames on the burners a few times because the ice was creeping up on the flames and extinguishing them. Making a mental note to ask his father about that, he stirred in the cream for the soup, juggling the carton and lid in each hand.

They finally sat down for dinner in an oddly formal arrangement at the dining table. The younger boy had scrounged up an old tablecloth that was moth eaten at the edges, but Evan had folded it in a way that disguised the sides. The bowls were chipped and cracked from the same set as the mugs, outlined in a navy blue, the rest a creamy colour slowly fading to grey.

“Let’s eat my boys!” grinned his father, swirling his soup around. Zane didn’t miss the tiny smile on Evan’s face and couldn't help but let his own grow.

**lloyd**

Lloyd Garmadon rarely wished for anything, but right now, he was about to make an exception.

Morro had invited himself around for dinner.

As it was, his mother barely made enough to support the two of them, and Lloyd’s part time job was that little bit of extra money they cherished and saved for his college fund.

Misako was nothing short of a benevolent host, something Lloyd thought was possibly a weakness. She was too kind, too forgiving, too  _ nice _ . Perhaps that’s why his father had fallen for her. From the few pictures on their walls that actually included a young Misako in it - most of them embarrassingly depicted baby Lloyd sporting a bowl cut Kai and Nya never ceased teasing him for.

In all honesty, the Smiths were basically a second family to the two Garmadons despite the major gap between their wealth, Ray and Maya had been friends with Misako long before Lloyd, Nya and Kai were even thoughts in the back of their minds. He also suspected they may have been friends with his father too, but as usual, that tabooed topic was left alone for Lloyd to muse about in his own time.

He’d grown up playing with Nya and Kai since they were babies, toddling about together and spending a lot of time at the Smith’s private beach. They got along quite well, Lloyd being in between Kai and Nya’s ages so growing up they had a lot of similar interests. Funnily enough, the siblings had snuck into most of young Lloyd’s pictures, usually a blur of brown and raven hair zooming around in the background.

“Lloyd, could you please pass the salad?”

Lloyd blinked slowly, pulling himself out of  _ happy  _ memories to pass his mother the bowl, avoiding Morro’s sneering gaze. His cousin,  _ how  _ exactly they were related was fuzzy, but Morro’s infuriating presence had been there his whole life, and before he found out he was bullying his friend, they had a tenuous bar between them which Lloyd only kept up because Jay seemed very insistent on it.

There was also another problem. Morro transformed into the human embodiment of an angel whenever he was around Misako, leaving Lloyd to constantly be compared to his cousin.

“Lloyd, please pass the salad.” Lloyd gritted his teeth in annoyance.

“It’s right in front of you.” He snapped back, stabbing the greens on his plate with his fork.

“Lloyd.” warned his mother in a low voice. He sighed, pushing the bowl closer to Morro with his fingertips even though it was practically on Morro’s plate.

Dinner was spent in strained silence, Misako attempting to make small talk which Lloyd openly ignored, smearing the store-bought sauce around his plate. Morro was left in the tiny living room to watch TV, so Lloyd opted to do the dishes instead of having to look at his cousin’s face. The kitchen was the same size as the living room, like every other room in the house, it was  _ tiny _ . But it was home. Soapy water was running down the front of his jumper as he scrubbed furiously at the hardened cheese left on Morro’s plate.

With the dishes set to dry, Lloyd had no other choice but to return to the living room and watch the telly with Morro. He took the only other piece of furniture apart from the couch - a wooden chair which was uncomfortable for his bum but he’d rather sit there than next to Morro. Lloyd flicked through _Realm Raider_ half heartedly, his eyes glazing over the pictures. He frowned as his mother came in with a tub of very expensive ice cream and spoon, handing it to Morro who replied with an angelic smile. 

Lloyd screwed his eyes shut, imagining red devil horns sprouting out the top of Morro’s head when they snapped open at the weird noises the TV was making. The images were flickering in and out as glitches spread across the screen in multicoloured bars. The house was getting warmer as well, then it was over taken by a sudden chill and a deep rumbling underneath.

The strange occurrences stopped a minute later, leaving Lloyd and Morro to exchange fearful looks.

They may not have been BFF’s, but the cousins could tell when something was wrong.

Misako wandered in, retying the ends of her braid.

“Did you boys feel that?”

Lloyd nodded, thinking of the only plausible reason. “Must have been the power. Maybe someone cut the line.”

Morro bobbed his head in agreement as well, and Lloyd blinked in surprise. “Thank you for dinner. I best be going now.”

Misako smiled warmly as Morro picked up his coat. “Come back anytime dear.”

“Please don’t.” Lloyd muttered softly to himself.

Morro’s hand was resting on the doorknob when the door flew open with a mighty  _ bang!,  _ sending the bully flying down the hallway to land on his butt. Lloyd sniggered, but it soon disappeared at the figure standing in the doorway.

His father.

**A/N: so I tried to get out of pt interviews which did not work...anyways, I can't wait for the weekend. i hope yall like the new cover (wattpad peeps) and the header. uhhh i pretty much said what I need to say in my earlier announcement. ooo yeah, drop some names for good ninjago fics!**


	17. [16] Vroom vroom, I'm in me ___'s car

**astra**

Astra had an explosive temper, she knew that all too well. It regularly got her in trouble at school and at home. She walked past Fro-You, spying some of the kids from her school inside as Annabella dragged her past. Even though it was yogurt, and Astra reckoned that was as healthy as it got, the health-nut that was her friend argued otherwise.

“Oh come on ‘Bells,” whined Zander from her left. “It’s healthy! It’s  _ yogurt _ for goodness sake!”

“It’s full of sugar.” snapped Annabella ‘Bells’ Han. “How many times do I have to tell you this?”

“Until we get Fro-You.” answered Kade expectantly.

Astra snorted, patting the empty treat box Rema had handed her earlier. Rema hung out with a lot of people, and if Astra remembered, she was hanging out with Zi today. Her baking - and the little time she was allowed to spend with her friends, was something she greatly treasured. She even made some money for selling her treats, but as usual, that got taken away too. Bells always turned her nose up at the sugar-stuffed treats Astra baked, claiming that her almonds were just as tasty. 

_ Fat chance _ , Astra thought with another snort. Almonds were useful in baking, but on their own, to her, they just tasted bland. 

“Pleaseeeeeee.” begged Zander, hopping up and down on the spot like a little puppy.

Bella humphed, then jerked her head towards Fro-You with a sigh.

“I’m not eating anything, and you lot can’t have more than two sweet toppings—”

Zander and Kade took off towards Fro-You before she could finish. Astra snickered, only earning herself a  _ thwack  _ with Annabella’s big floppy straw sunhat.

The boys were already ordering at the counter, and their noses would have been pressed against the glass if they were allowed to change back into their seven year old selves. Astra left Annabella in a horrendously coloured lime-green booth to place her order. She opened her wallet with a frown. She didn’t have her credit card and she’d been refused pocket money for months - why did she think she’d have any spare money?

“Actually, just cancel my order please.” She pocketed her wallet with a sigh and slumped back to where Bella was sitting and munching on carrots and almonds.

“Finally, you’ve learned how sugary foods are gonna kill you one day.”

“If that’s the case, everything we eat is going to kill us ‘Bells.” Annabella looks aghast. “Oh, come on, name me one food that doesn’t have sugar in it?”

Bella opened her mouth.

“Which  _ are  _ vegan.”

Another notable point was that Bella was vegan and had been for the longest time. Astra was convinced her best friend was going to turn into a rabbit any day soon. Or an almond.

“Avocado.” Annabella replied triumphantly, proceeding to rattle off a list of health benefits from memory.

“Howsh chrome yoush dishnt geeph onsh?” asked Kade, mouth full of his crazy concoction. More than two toppings, Astra noted with a smirk. Kade was a softie but he rebelled in tiny, Kade ways.

“Couldn’t pay.” For extra effect, she shook her wallet with no coins rattling to prove her point.

Kade had come to Ninjago High a year after Astra, and unintentionally had become the newest source of bullying, simply because he hadn’t had a Netflix movie glow up. He still held that baby fat, was not exactly the fittest guy and overall was not people’s joy. Actually, he still wasn’t, but Astra didn’t really have a fuck to spare right now, and Kade was a stupid idiot, but he could be funny sometimes.

“Are your parents not…” Zander pointed his spoon at her.

It was no secret that Astra’s mum and dad barely qualified as parents. For Astra, at least, because her older sister Cassie was the Chosen One although she hadn’t slain lots of children with a deep hate for sand. Astra had happily lived in Cassie’s shadow for most of her life - relished in it even, because she was protected there and Cassie  _ had  _ been a great sister.

Emphasis on  _ had _ , because a year ago, Cassie went missing.

Later, they pronounced her dead and shut her Missing Persons case.

Cassie had been friends with so many people, been admired from afar and respected by so many that the funeral was filled with strangers Astra had never seen before. It had felt so impersonal, so  _ wrong _ .

But right after, when they were hovering outside Cassie’s bedroom door holding her boxes, her parents had clearly laid out her future for her. And as Astra had struggled to complete step after step of their meticulous plan, she realised how Cassie became the ‘Golden Child’. Maybe it had been natural for Cassie, but Astra could barely  _ breathe  _ around the work she had to do to keep up the image of that perfect child.

And when she didn’t?

It hurt, and they made sure it did.

“Anyways, did you guys see…”

She drowned out all her feelings and focused on the conversation, fingering the empty wallet and ignoring the grumbles of her equally empty stomach.

**pixal**

_ i need to talk to you _

Pixal froze over the keys, rereading the message twice over, then looked out of the window to calm her down with a deep breath. Zane wasn’t breaking up with her...right? She’d never been in a relationship before but based off most movies that phrase wasn’t the greatest in a relationship. Her room was on one of the highest floors in Borg Tower, offering an amazing view of Ninjago City - one she preferred to gaze at during the night because it was simply magical _.  _ It was a puzzle of skyscrapers jumbled together flashing neon lights which bounced off the glass and turned the city into a magnificent kaleidoscope of colours. 

She sighed, pulling up the fuzzy pink blanket to her chest to set down her cooling mug of hot chocolate to reply.

_ sure, what’s up? _

**_I had to leave Doomsday Comix early today because my father asked me to come home_ **

The three circles moved up and down on an invisible wave

**_When I got home, i met Evan_ **

_ Who’s Evan? _

**_Evan is my younger brother_ **

_ Your...younger brother? _

**_From another mother, my father says_ **

_ Doesn’t it seem a bit suspicious to you? Your father’s never mentioned Evan before has he? _

Zane’s little white bubble disappeared for a fearful five minutes before it popped up again.

**_He...hasn’t talked about him before but when I arrived home he seemed pretty upset, then again, half the time he’s either crying in joy or sadness about his inventions and I can’t tell which is which_ **

_ Just make sure Evan is okay _

While she typed the last message, she couldn’t help but feel suspicious of Evan. Coming in out of nowhere, and Dr Julien was a very smart, very discombobulated, but a very smart man. Even through text, Zane’s reply seemed to be a little defensive. They said goodnight, promising to meet up after school tomorrow at the waterpark just outside the city. Hopefully the others wouldn’t barge in.

Pixal looked back out at the city from her bird’s eye perch, cooped up in her own nest inside the pod hanging chair. She didn’t want Zane to be mad with her, but Evan’s sudden appearance seemed suspicious, and she also didn’t want Zane to get hurt. But if Zane and Dr Julien trusted Evan, then Pixal would trust Evan as well.

**jay**

“Jaaa-ay!” yelled his mother from the otherside of the camper. “Your pudding and milk are ready!”

“Coming mum,” he groaned, rubbing his ears. Sometimes she forgot they lived in a 45 foot metal RV and didn’t have to yell. But he supposed, having grown up on a huge farm out in the rice fields as a child, she wasn’t so used to being cooped up in such a small home. Marrying Ed had brought her that, though she didn’t seem to regret it. Ed and Edna were happily in love and had been for what felt like  _ forever.  _

_ Almost like soulmates,  _ Jay thought morosely, dragging his socked-feet across the floor of the camper.  _ As if I’ll ever find mine. _

At least he had his pudding cup.

Legs not quite reaching the floor, they swung happily under the foldable table as he sat on the couch, spooning in bites of pudding cup whilst watching the blurry figures move through his favourite film:  _ Fritz Donnegan; Adventure to Joskor.  _ Their TV didn’t offer the best quality of film or sound, but Jay knew the script off by heart and recited the words along with as much emotion he could muster.

“ _ No,  _ Captain Drake, the problem is  _ you _ ,” growled Jay and Donnegan in unison. Whilst the lead brandished his blaster, Jay did the same with his spoon for the next few lines.

“And as long as I have the power of the stars with me, I will continue to fight for good. Even if it means making sacrifices.”

On screen, Donnegan looked down at his former childhood best friend Drake, his lips turning down in a frown behind his clear helmet. Drake snarled something back, thrashing under the influence of the unique food grown on Joskor the colony had eaten and had been possessed by, like a virus.

“Goodbye, my friend.”

Jay mimed shooting the stack of unwashed dishes while the blaster shot hit Drake square in the chest. Donnegan activated his jetpack without another word, and the screen glitched, pausing of its own accord. Fritz Donnegan always seemed to be a bit heartless to Jay. He was a space explorer, yes, but he never dropped a rare smile or a flash of laughter. For a kids-directed movie, some of the concepts were a little darker. Always serious, the comedy left to the sidekick, who was previously Drake for this movie until he ate the Joskor plant.

Fritz had effectively betrayed his friend in killing him - consequently the only way to truly free him of the grasp of the  _ Joskorhiberous _ , costing him his life.

Not exactly the same situation, Cole diving in to help Nya at the cost of them well, dating (or fake dating as he hoped) but it lightened the pain a little.

“Muuuuuuum,” he whined, standing to fiddle with the TV. “George’s broken again!”

Jay’s family, all being mechanics or inventors of some sort had a tendency to name objects or cars, or anything really. George was the TV, Micheal the squishy sofa and Georgine the wireless.

“Oh Jay honey, move aside, let me get a look at that,” fussed his mother, taking the small wrench out of her bun to crank at the back panel. “Oh — ooh! There we go!”

Fritz Donnegan flickered back to life, and Jay side-hugged his mother, pausing the movie on his own.

“Mum, do you think I could get some new things for school?...” he trailed off hopefully.

Edna eyed the jar a third-full of coins sitting on the kitchen counter. “Maybe not just yet, but your father just had a  _ very  _ expensive client come in asking to get his car fixed.”

Jay’s eyes widened in interest. “Who is it?”

“Oh, it’s very hush-hush dearie, but your father wanted to know if you wanted to have a look at it outside?”

Edna gave him a smile as he grinned, already pulling on a thick coat to stumble outside. In the desert, it got quite cold, especially at night in this season. Feeling the chill, he drew the coat closer towards his body, kicking at the loose gravel with his fluffy bunny slippers when he spied  _ the  _ car.

“WE’RE FIXING _ FRITZ DONNEGAN’S FREAKING CAR?” _

“Oh, we are?” replied his father, rolling out from underneath the engine. “A lady named Kayla came in with a fancy clipboard and asked us to fix up this car. Not much wrong with it, for such a good build.” Ed patted the hood of the car with an appreciative nod. “Who’s this Fritz Donnegan fellow?”

“Ooooo I know this one! He’s that nice lad in the television in those movies that Jay is always watching. Starsnoozer, was it?”

“Ma- _ aa _ .” he moaned, knowing full well his parents didn’t actually know who Fritz Donnegan was and the importance of his car. Why he chose the junkyard out of all the places in Ninjago City was strange, but this was Fritz  _ freaking  _ Donnegan’s car sitting in his yard.

Jay knew this because whenever Fritz was on Earth, he sometimes carried out intense spy missions the police couldn’t handle, and of course, he had epic cars with tons of gadgets. The sets often had a real copy of the car, just without all the green-screen CGI tech, and in one of the interviews, the movie star revealed he got the best car of them all for personal use: The Bullet.

Sleek and shiny, and everything a spy’s car should be. Jay ran a hand over the door silver door handle, careful not to smudge the shiny surface.

“Wait ‘til everyone at school sees this!” crowed Jay excitedly, dancing around on the spot, the bells on his slippers jingling along. Although the star’s movies were aimed at kids, he was still incredibly famous and you’d be living under a rock if you didn’t know his name.

“About that son,”

His heart dropped. The  _ one  _ time something interesting happened, and there was already an ‘about that’.

“We had to sign a disclosure when we agreed to take her in. You can’t tell  _ anyone  _ about this beaut.” Ed patted The Bullet again. “Guess this Donnegan guy of yours is famous, eh?”

“You could say.” Jay muttered under his breath.

“Sounds like a fake name to me, Ed.” his mother added, stepping back to admire the car.

“It is, Ma,” Jay explained earnestly, happy to use this tidbit of trivia. “No one in the public knows his real name: as far as anyone’s concerned, his name is Fritz Donnegan, just like the movies and comics.”

He took one last glance at the famous car with a disappointed sigh. Later, when he was snuggled beneath his doona, he stared out of the window as a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky. In tandem, several others follow, crackling blue veins across the darkened sky serving as a background, grey, dreary clouds behind the unforeseen lightning storm.

_ The Wind Farms Power Station will like this,  _ he thought with a subtle smirk to himself. But when he looked again, the lightning storm circled around Ed & Edna’s Scrap N Junk, never once daring to reach the city far away. Almost like a protective dome, the lightning didn’t touch the high piles of scrap metal, just danced around the junkyard jumpily.

He could make out The Bullet gleaming, the silver reflecting the unique blue bolts of lightning shooting down. 

With another sigh, he closed his eyes, strangely reassuring by the thrum of the lightning that somehow, just somehow, he could feel.

**A/N: GASp an o t h e r filler chapter with more things to lead on? surprise. anyways, this is gonna be a short a/n, but the waterpark will be the next part, and yeah, uh, look out for shennanigeans? that's not how you spell it. for those wondering why the heck you're getting random astra pov's, just keep reading :)**

**i have a questions for yall:**

**-What do you think of Evan (suspicious/ or not)?**

**anyways, ciao**


	18. announcement

you might be thinking: woah, what?

my answer is yes

after over a year on Wattpad updating whenever I feel like it, I've finally gotten a posting schedule together.

So, as follows:

 **Monday:** moral of the story

 **Tuesday:** core four fun

 **Wednesday:** no update

 **Thursday:** moral of the story

 **Friday:** core four fun

 **Saturday:** bonus day! (a chance for these stories to get updated: vacation, ninjago oneshots, tmc oneshots and tales of tears and embers)

 **Sunday:** no update

This starts taking place next week by the way, but I am posting a mos part today and another this week.

until then folks


	19. [17] Don't steal Nya's oreos - Kai Smith (MIA, last seen with Nya Smith)

**kai**

After practice, a car had managed to splash water on him as it zoomed past blasting music so loud his dead grandpa could probably hear it. Jokes, he didn’t know who his grandfather was. His parents barely talked about their parents, and Kai had never found reason to ask.

Drenched to the bone, and shivering in the late evening chill, Kai entered his house with a foul grin and temper to match. He wanted to eat enough to put him into a food coma. Things only worsened when he found Nya scurrying about the place like a chipmunk preparing for winter, (chipmunks did that, right? He’d only watched Alvin and the Chipmunks,  _ all _ of them, of course) and when she yelled at him to stop dripping on the carpet, he’d simply asked why.

Too tired and too wet to argue with his sister, he stepped off the rug and waited for her reply.

“Mum and dad are coming home this weekend — I can’t believe I forgot!”

“They’re coming home on Saturday?”

Nya cocked her head and paused from scrubbing at a cheese stain on the counter. “They didn’t tell you?”

“No.”

She frowned, and Kai did the same. Did they forget to tell him?

_ They’re very busy people _ , he admitted to himself.  _ But you’re their kid! They should be taking better care of you, not gallivanting around the globe to do accounting work _ .

Nya sensed his thinking and handed him a chocolate spread biscuit. He nibbled on the biscuit, hunger dissipated and replaced with worry.

“I heard they weren’t coming back last week, I just thought…”

“Yeah.” Nya said simply. Then she ducked into the pantry, rummaging around in the dark until her muffled voice lowered to a threatening tone. “Kai. Where are my Oreos?”

His eyes flicked up to where his room was on an upper floor.

“I dunno.”

“Liar.” Nya said accusingly.

“Nuh-uh.” He held his hands up in mock surrender.

Nya’s hand reached for the knives on the counter.

“That time of the month?” he tried weakly, already backing out of the kitchen. Kai regretted it instantly when Nya left the knife and cracked her knuckles.

“Never ask a lady that.” she said, raising a brow. “Run.”

“What?”

“Run.”

He did exactly that.

**Zane**

He did not have a great selection of swimwear at home.

But he was unwilling to splurge money on something he’d probably wear once, so, tropical flower swim shorts it was.

His bag was packed with sunblock, a towel, spare hot-pink swim shorts (the only other pair he owned, in case of an accident), a book, his phone and some money. He’d done his homework in his free period so he and Pixal would have the whole afternoon at the waterpark to themselves.

“Zane?” His dad toppled out of the basement, the door swinging wildly and his glasses set crooked on his nose. “Where’s Evan?”

“You don’t know where he is?” Zane asked in a level tone, worry for Evan flaring up.

His father flapped his arms about, nearly knocking a vase off a table when Zane leapt forwards with cat-like reflexes and saved it. “I don’t know! I’ve never had to take care of a droi— _ kid _ before!”

“I’m your kid!” Zane snapped back, recoiling at his own sharp words. He drew in a deep breath, fully rattled at the rare loss of his temper. “Is he in his room?”

His father shrugged and knocked on Evan’s door. “Evan? Are you in there?”

With no response, Dr Julien smacked himself on the forehead with the heel of his palm. “Forgot he doesn’t speak. Stupid code.” The last words were muttered and definitely not meant to be heard by Zane’s ears. His curiosity piqued at the strange wording choice.

Zane stepped forward, shouldering his bag. “We’re coming in now, Evan.”

He pushed the door open with the tips of his fingers, startled into a freeze at the young boy rocking himself back and forth in a ball on his bed, hiccuping between tears and sniffles. Evan snapped his eyes up to the two Juliens in the doorway and scrambled further back into the corner.

“Don’t—” Evan hiccuped again, shaking himself again in jerky movements. “Stay away from me.”

“ _ No, no no no no. _ ” whispered Zane’s father from behind him.

“Evan, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” Zane crept forward slowly, sitting done on the corner of the guest bed.

“I—I’m not afraid  _ hic _ , of you—” said Evan through shaky breaths. “Afraid of him.”

“Who’s him?”

“I remember,  _ everything _ , I can’t—”

“Evan, who’s him?” Zane asked again patiently.

Evan pointed behind Zane to where Dr Julein stood in the doorway.

“ _ Him _ .”

**cole**

He stared at the computer screen as fear worked its way up from his stomach and clenched his heart with a cold hand.

Auditions were open for the dance team, and the teacher was happy to let him try out.

He wailed to himself quietly, slamming the screen of his laptop down with a barely contained growl. Cole knew there had to be a way for him to wriggle out of this tight spot, he’d done it since he was five and avoiding tap lessons. He fell down onto his bed, splayed out like a defeated starfish and closed his eyes to prevent the tears welling there from escape.

His options right now were to run away and become a hermit living in the desert, or, join the dance team.

He better start packing.

But the feeling of defeat weighed him down, not to mention the millennia of silent disappointment he was expecting from his father. Cole opened his eyes, and for the third time that day, spotted clusters of rocks gathered in spots around his room. He sighed, rubbing at his eyes, then picked up the rocks and tossed them out of the one-story window into his garden.

Just as he closed the window, his door flew open and his father sprinted in, halting to heave breaths with the support of his cane.

“Cole—have—you—been—throwing—,” Lou gasped for air there, “—rocks—out—of—the—window?”

Cole winced. “Yeah, they kept appearing in my room so I put them in the front garden.” He frowned, then backed up to the window. “Should I not have?”

“Cole, how long has this been happening?”

“I dunno, maybe three days?”

“Oh, First Spinjitzu Master, Lily,” Lou whispered under his breath.

“What’s a Spinjitzu Master?”

“Never mind. Hold on, Cole, I need to sort something out, where’s the man’s number? Aha!” Lou was punching the buttons in his BorgPhone furiously. Cole’s father opened his wallet and pulled out a few notes, handing them to Cole. “Boy, go spend some time with your friends or something, I need to make a few calls.”

“But my homework—”

“GO COLE!” roared his father. Cole leapt back, swooped for his bag and a towel and ran for the door, money fisted in his hand as his heart beat wildly.

What the hell was happening?

And why was there a trail of rocks sprouting from each foot he planted on the ground?

**lloyd**

“Oh Lloyd, please just go to the waterpark.” pleaded Misako, taking Lloyd’s hands into hers.

Lloyd dropped his backpack on the ground. “I want to know why he’s here, mum.”

Garmadon had shown up on his doorstep, and that was the last Lloyd had seen of him. He’d been sent to his room and wasn’t allowed to come out. When he left for school, he saw no sign of his father, and now that he was back, his mother was trying to get him out of the house again.

“There’s just some things I can’t let you know, Lloydie-bear.” Misako’s tone grew sterner with each word as she pulled on her adult and parental power. “Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, you are going to that waterpark and you are enjoying yourself whether you like it or not. I don’t want you thinking about your father being home, please, just be home for dinner by six thirty.”

Lloyd paused and searched his mother’s brown eyes and only found concern. With a defeated sigh, he took the towel and the new bag from his mother. “I’ll be home by then mum.”

“Be home for dinner!” reminded Misako as he boarded the bus for the waterpark.

“Yes mum, I know!” he yelled back, shrinking into the nearest seat right after.

Lloyd spent the twenty minute bus ride contemplating life.

As a boy in his highschool, he felt his only goals were to graduate and get out of the school and to avoid his father. Since he’d already failed the second, he decided it was time to rethink what he was doing. His blood was boiling, and he half wanted to leap out of the bus and sprint back home to demand the truth.

If your father was a gang leader who you hadn’t seen in three years, he did not just show up on your doorstep sporting a nasty wound. Lloyd knew Misako had hoped Lloyd didn’t see the darkness spreading in a bloody web across his father’s side, but with the lights still running rampage, he could see the red glistening in the growing patch. At first, he was sure his father had lost his brain cells, because there was a freaking hospital five minutes away, then Lloyd remembered Garmadon was a wanted criminal.

Ah, to have an evil ganglord as your father.

He watched as the bus left the more populated areas of Ninjago City, approaching Mega Monster Water Park, an off branch of the Amusement Park. With the same monster concept, just mixed with water, MMWP was going to be a fun outing on this unusually warm day. On the off chance that someone else would be there so he wasn’t a loner riding on rides by himself, he texted the groupchat. Both of them, just in case.

**\- who in the hell put the muffins in the freezer -**

**Me:** _ hey is anyone going to mmwp? _

**cool, calm, and collected:** _ zane and I were meant to be going, but he just texted me saying that he’s going to be late _

**Me:** _ okay, meet you at the front gate pix? _

_ cool, calm and collected changed their name to pixxxal _

**pixxxal:** _ yep ill be there _

**I am a bad (bleep) addison rae:** _ ill ask my mum if i can come, i havent left school yet. I got my swimming stuff from sport so im all good _

**music man:** _ yeah ill be there too, my dad just kicked me otu of the house for the afternoon. See ya at the gate _

Everyone replied to the main group chat, even Jay, so Lloyd deleted the message from the other group chat. Her twiddled his thumbs and pushed all thoughts of his no-good father out of his head and he got off the bus and made his way over to where Pixal was sitting on a bench beside the big arch gate made for the entrance.

“Hey Pix,”

The older girl sized him up immediately. “What’s wrong Lloyd?”

He winced. Lloyd needed to work on his acting skills, but in the meantime, he needed someone to talk to, and he knew Pixal would badger him until he split and talked.

“My dad’s back.”

“Oh. Your dad’s back?”

“Oh indeed,” he replied, sitting down next to her. “And I think he got shot.”

“He got shot?”

“Are you just going to repeat everything I say?” Lloyd said, a tinge of annoyance following his words.

“Until you stop saying three word sentences, Lloyd. What do I do with ‘shot, dad, and back’?”

In one breath, he rambled, “Alright, he just showed up on my doorstep, and Morro, the little shit, was over for dinner and doing his whole ‘oh I’m such an angel, my name is Morro’ act. Then my mum shut me in my room and said I couldn’t see him. He dribbled blood in my hallway!” 

Pixal took a minute to comprehend this, then replied slowly, “He probably got into some trouble with another gang, right? He couldn’t go to the hospital because he’s a criminal, maybe he doesn’t trust people in the Sons of Garmadon, so he came to your mother.”

“Well, whatever his reason is, I want him out of my house. He hasn’t been home in years, why should he be home now?”

As those words escaped from Lloyd’s mouth, he couldn’t help but wish his father came back for  _ him _ .

**A/N: damn four POV’s in one chapter? okay i was wrong, the water park starts next chapter because it took hecking long to get everyone there. The events of MMWP may take two to three chapters by the way, and boy this book is looking to be like 30, maybe 30+chapters. Hoo! Anyways, read the earlier announcement for my schedule :)**


	20. [18] evan.exe has stopped working

**jay**

“Ma?”

“Jay?”

“Ma?”

“Jay?”

“Ma- _ a _ ?”

“Jay?”

“ _ Ma _ ?”

“Jay honey, can you hear me?”

“I can hear you now Ma,” Jay said, pressing the speaker closer to his ear. Edna’s voice came in in bits and pieces before the connection strengthened. He walked down the road where Nya and Kai’s house was, keeping to the other side of the road.

“Are you on the bus yet?”

“Actually Ma, I was wondering if I could go to Mega Monster Water Park?”

Jay watched as the bus home closed its doors and trundled away. He hiked up the swim bag on his shoulder and avoided Nya’s gaze as she waved at him on her way home.

“Sure honey, just be home by six thirty because your father needs some help on that Donnegan fellow’s car.”

“Thanks Ma,” grinned Jay, walking over to the bus stop for the water park. “See you later.”

“Love you Jay-Jay!”

“Love you too Ma.”

He sat down on the bench, letting the bag of swimming things flop next to him as he browsed through Tik Tok. After staring at his drafts, he brought up the video of the Bullet he’d taken late last night, sneaking out through the skylight in his ceiling to stare at the wondrous car. It looked even better under the glow of the moon and the unnatural bolts of lightning webbed around the junkyard.

Without thinking, he’d filmed a video and Jay considered going into the movie business, because even with his crappy second hand phone he’d fiddled with, the clips looked damn good. He shook his head to himself, recalling his father’s words, and even though the video didn’t actively show his face, there was probably some fine line in the contract. He pressed the button to send it back to the drafts as he boarded the bus, jostled by the other people climbing in.

What Jay Walker didn’t notice was as he was shoved aside, his finger slipped aside, and hit  _ post _ .

  
  


**skylor**

He’d kissed her.

**astra**

She was now limping, and she hated that, because it made her look weak. Part of her strong front was the unfaltering mantra,  _ if you look strong, you are strong _ . And if she limped, she was anything but strong. Astra took the darker lanes home, skirting around trash cans while bracing for danger, each step lighter than the next to prevent her left knee from buckling completely.  _ It might be broken,  _ she realised, but flicked the thought away. The lightest pressure made it hurt, and her previous hobble and walk now turned into a silly hop and balancing act to stabilise her weight and her school bag. 

Tongue stuck out in concentration, she hopped straight into what she thought was a brick wall. Oh boy was she wrong. Standing in front of her was a burly member of the Serpentine gang. What she knew of them was little - the gang was separated into five ‘tribes’ representing those of the historical figures, real Serpentine. Judging by the blue snake curling around his forearm, ending at the ripped cuff of his shirt, this was a Hypnobrai.

“This is Serpentine territory, girl.” the Hypnobrai narrowed his eyes. “What ‘re you doing ‘ere?”

Astra took two sparing looks and realised she’d strayed far off her path home.

“I uh—”

“Not good enough, Garmadon  _ spy. _ ” 

“Wha—”

His fist was flying at her face and she dropped to the ground like a stone, crying out in pain as her knee slammed painfully into the ground. The crack seemed to bounce around her ears as she crawled forward, weighed down by her bag and the now definitely broken kneecap. It looked floppy and just the sight of it made her want to throw up.

“Oh fuck.” She whispered as more members of the Hypnobrai cohort closed on.

“You’re on the borders of Garmadon’s territory.” spoke a cold voice from above her.

“This is Serpentine territory, fool, and you know it.” spat her attacker, backed up by three of four more Hypnobrai, effectively cornering her.

This was not good. Turf wars were dangerous places and Astra knew next to nothing about them, but cumbered with a broken kneecap and about eighty kilos of homework, she was not in a good place. She couldn’t straighten her knee, so she dragged herself over to a safe corner in the alley and rolled up her pants to find even more bruising than this morning blotting her skin.

The lone Sons of Garmadon member dropped down from above, female by the looks of it. Gracefully, they swept the length of their cloak behind them and kept the cowl up.  _ An assassin?  _ She stalked forward and dropped her hand. Astra kept her cursing internal as the assassin person flicked out a sharp blade from her sleeve.

Her knee flared up in pain again, and she took the opportunity to deliver a string of curses directed at her father for pushing her down the stairs, more curses towards anyone in the surrounding area, and an extra few swear words to top it off.

While she was distracted with cursing everyone on the planet, Astra hadn’t noticed the assassin had taken care of all but two Hypnobrai members. The SOG member threw a solid punch to the first thug, but didn’t notice the second sneaking up on her with a sharp dagger winking in the sunlight. The knife poised over the newcomer’s back, Astra shot out a hand as if it would do anything.

Incidentally, it did. A purple ball of  _ something  _ burst from her fingertips and launched itself at the attacker’s back and he let out an agonising howl, just as the assassin knocked out the other guy. The SOG member examined the body of the man Astra had hit, picking up a limp arm and letting it flop. 

“Holy moley,” said the person, examining the patch on the thug’s back.

Astra narrowed her eyes. She knew one person that said ‘holy moley’, and that person was–

“Cassie?”

“The one and only, sister.”

**zane**

“Father?” Zane muttered in disbelief, turning around to stare agape at the man. “What did Evan mean by—”

“Zane,” commanded Dr Julien, tone whip sharp. “Please take Evan with you to the waterpark. I need to work on something, and when you come back, I’ll explain everything.”

“But father—”

“Zane. I will not tell you this again. Go meet your friends, and take Evan with you.”

The sudden coldness from his tone struck Zane again, and he took a step back protectively towards Evan.

“Fine. We’ll go. But I expect proper answers when we come back, Father.”

Zane took Evan and his bag and left, an arm curled protectively around his brother’s shoulders. Evan was still heaving shaky breaths when they got into the bus, sitting at the back while Zane rubbed soothing circles into his brother’s back. Whether it actually helped or not, remained to be seen, but Zane sent Pixal a message that he was on his way and that he was bringing Evan with him.

He noted Evan was wearing one of his old Ninjago High jumpers, the sleeves too big for him and floppy on his small build.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, but it would really help Evan.” Zane said softly, keeping his eyes out for their stop.

Evan remained tight-lipped and shook his head like a stubborn ox. His break of silence earlier seemed to be the only one for a while. In the meantime, Zane was incredibly shocked by his accusation. His father - ditzy, scatter brained but genius Dr Julien had done something to Evan, his little brother, and he couldn’t stand that. But his father had brought him up, more or less, his entire life and he couldn’t seem him doing something  _ bad _ . So Zane remained impartial, and decided to wait and see what was going to happen. For the time being, he was going to make sure Evan had a good time, and maybe, get him to warm up to Zane. 

Pixal had told him Jay was arriving around the same time as he was, and to meet her and Lloyd at the Hydra-Blast ride. Evan appeared to be fine moving through the crowd, but he latched onto Zane’s arm and refused to let go as Zane guided him to where they would be meeting Jay. Jay’s bus puffed to a stop, and Zane easily saw the shorter boy push through the crowd towards them. It wasn’t particularly hard to miss Zane, he was tall and lanky, blonde, almost platinum hair that stood on its own and piercing blue eyes. Evan was basically another copy of Zane, just shorter, maybe a little tanner.

“Zane!” yelled Jay, waving his hand as he walked over. “And...mini Zane?”

“This is Evan. My younger brother.”

“Have you been hiding him in your bag for the four years I’ve known you?” Jay joked, curiously looking at Evan. Zane took a step in front of the youngest boy protectively.

“No, that would be quite impossible conserving that my bag can only take—” Zane sensed Jay wanted a better explanation of why rather than how, and he sighed. “Evan is my younger brother. He used to go to Darkley’s Boarding school until his mother, not mine, died, and so they sent him to my father and I.” He paused before adding, “There’s a bit of trouble at home right now.’

“Oh.” Jay seemed unsure of how to respond, and Zane knew it was because he and his parents got on very well. “Well let’s get to the Hydra-Blast, no point waiting for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”

“Do we still have to call him that?” Zane asked, gently tugging Evan along with him as they navigated the busy crowd to the biggest attraction.

Evan’s grip tightened on Zane’s arm as they shouldered their way to where Pixal and Lloyd were standing with two double seater doughnuts for them to ride down the Hydra-Blast on. There was also a smaller, one ring doughnut behind them.

Lloyd opened his mouth, presumably to ask who Evan was, but Zane shot him a quelling look and he closed his gaping hole. 

“Evan, do you want to ride the Hydra-Blast?” Pixal asked kindly. She didn’t crouch down to his level though, sensing that the young boy was easily startled. 

Evan looked up silently to gaze at the monstrosity that was the Hydra-Blast. A twisting, curling beast painted shimmering blues and purples to represent the scales of the mythological animal, it offered drops and turns, even at the very end, there was a funnel to spin down before lazing down the river. Evan gave Zane a quick nod, then stared up back at the water ride.

Evan was getting measured by a pimply ride operator when he announced “Kid’ll have to ride with someone else ‘ere, he ain’t tall enough to go on ‘is own.”

Interrupting them, Jay’s phone let out a series of pings and garbled notification sounds. Walker frowned, unlocking his phone to see the cause of the disturbance.

“Crap on a cracker.”

“What?” asked Lloyd, peering over the shorter boy’s shoulder. “ _ Oh _ .” 

“I posted the video.”

“What video?” asked Zane, finally intrigued by Jay’s panic.

“Are you lot gonna go on the blast or stand ‘ere holding up the line?” snapped the operator.

“Sorry, sorry, come on you three.” Pixal ushered Zane, Lloyd, Jay and Evan up the staircase to the top so they could discuss Jay’s freak out while walking.

“I was home yesterday watching Fritz Donnegan’s movie, I step outside, then  _ boom!  _ The Bullet is sitting in my front yard!” Jay waves his arms about to exaggerate his point. “And of course I wanted to take a few pictures and show it off, ‘cause it’s the Bullet, then my dad goes ‘Oh-ho son no you can’t’, disclosure disclosure blah blah blah.” Jay’s mimc of his father was anything but the old mechanic, gruffer and sterner than Zane believed.

“So they go to bed, I sneak out, take a video for Tik Tok and decide not to post it, and now the video’s already got a thousand and five hundred likes!”

“You signed a contract?” Pixal said, hoisting the blow up doughnut higher onto her shoulder as she adjusted the strap of her one-piece bathing suit.

“Well, technically  _ I  _ didn’t, my dad and mum did.” Jay frowned, turning off the annoying buzz of notifications. “And I didn’t show my face in the video. Tik Tok refuses to take the thing down and I don’t want Fritz Donnegan suing me! All I have is an old DS and a barely working phone to my name!”

Zane felt Jay’s panic was a bit more than needed, but he wasn’t very skilled at calming people down. If only Nya were here. The girl had a strange calming presence over Jay despite her hard nature, and even though Jay appeared to be mad at Nya for something she’d done ages ago, he knew Nya would pull him out of the frenzy. Discreetly, before they put their stuff away, he dialled Nya’s number.

“Hello?”

“Nya, you must come to the Mega Monster Water Park, right now.” Zane demanded quickly. Evan hung behind from the others to stay close to Zane.

“Why?”

“Just come, Jay’s is in a panic and thinks he’s going to be sued by Fritz Donnegan.”

“He’s what?”

“Just come!”

“Can I bring Kai? I don’t trust him alone in the house when we just cleaned it.”

“Yes, yes, whatever. Just hurry.” He ended the called on a snappish tone, because Jay was bringing his imagination to life with words and loudly telling his friends that Fritz Donnegan was going to begin a car chase with him in the Bullet. His scenario changed each story, every scene getting wildly unrealistic with his growing panic. Now he was insinuating that he’d have to leave Ninjago and go undercover as a hermit for the rest of his life.

“Nya better get here soon.” Zane muttered to himself, or so he thought.

“Very soon.” spoke Evan at last, his voice stable and calm. “Before  _ Jay _ sues Fritz Donnegan.”

Zane laughed, letting Evan sit in the front of the doughnut. “Let’s hope he wins.”

**A/N: holy baloney this chapter was long. And the following ones will be long but im not really complaining. Um. i dont really have much to say because that would be** **_s p o i l e r s_ ** **so, until monday when the schedule begins! If youre wondering what happened with skylor, i dont know either. As a very wise youtube masterclass ad once said to me because i couldn’t skip it, ‘writing is like driving through the fog. Sometimes it clears ahead and you can see what to do next, but most of the time you’re going in blindly.’**

**It may not have exactly been those words but that the gist of it. I have an idea of a plot, and with all my books, i know the beginning and the end and that’s about it because planning is not my strongest suit.**


	21. [19] Hydra-Blast? I think you mean we-are-having-a-blast

**nya**

Wringing out the wet towel from sport earlier that day, Nya flung it over the drying lines and dusted off her hands.

“Kai!” She yelled from the garden, knowing he could hear her. “We’re leaving for the water park in fifteen minutes!”

“OKAY!” came the muffled, but loud reply from somewhere in the gigantic house.

Then she hung her swimsuit out to dry. Memories of when she was younger and taking proper swimming lessons - when her parents were there to take her, flooded Nya’s brain at the mere thought of swimming. She’d enjoyed it as a kid a lot, her coach even thought that she could go professional in the future. 

It would have been hard to tell at such a young age, but Nya remembered shooting through the water, her strokes powerfully cutting through the water. Always faster than all of the other kids, it was like her hands could control the water and use it to her advantage.Apparently her mother had been somewhat of a swimmer in her younger years too.

However, the responsibility of basically living alone and being the more mature sibling took over, and now she only swam when required in classes. Fingering the suit, she left it with a sigh to get her spare to prepare for the water park. Fifteen minutes later, Nya and Kai were on the bus, swimmers under their clothes. Jay in a panic was not uncommon, but Zane’s urgent tone made it sound worse than normal.

Now, Nya didn’t know why she could calm Jay down so easily - and she didn’t know why  _ Jay  _ could calm her down just as effortlessly, but after the whole Chad drama, she really could have used his comforting presence. But Jay seemed to be avoiding her, and a frown graced her lips as she got off. There was no reason why Jay would be mad at her, right?

“Hydra-Blast,” she said to Kai, dragging him over to the ride so he would stop flirting with the water park attendant batting her very fake and very long eyelashes at him.

They eventually got to the bottom of the line, holding only their towels to deposit in the temporary lockers at the bottom of the ride. Their more important stuff was in the big lockers near the middle for central use, number code locked. Zane, a smaller Zane, Pixal, Lloyd, Cole and Jay were standing together, all quite wet from the Hydra-Blast. Jay stood slightly apart from the others, wringing his wrists in his usual nervous display, checking his phone every five seconds.

Nya waved to Cole and the others with a smile, then crossed over to Jay, flicking at the loose ends of her braided bracelet.

“Hey Jay.”

“Oh. Hi Nya.”

He sounded  _ so _ excited to see her.

“Zane called me and said you were getting sued by Fritz Donnegan?” she raised a brow, hoping the joke would lighten the mood.

His freckled cheeks spread with his grin. “Not exactly the case, but it is possible.”

Nya laughed, flicking a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. “What’s the problem?”

“Well, I was home yesterday watching—”

“ Fritz Donnegan; Adventure to Joskor—” Nya interrupted with another grin. Jay punched her good naturedly and continued.

“George broke, then Ma told me we had a new client. I walked outside and boom! The Bullet is sitting in my front yard! And I wanted to take a few videos to show off, but then my dad said they’d signed this contract, blah blah blah, so I couldn’t film it, but I snuck out through my roof later that night and took a video, just for  _ fun _ , and I get here and find out I’ve somehow posted it!” Jay said this all in one very big breath, a talent few had.

“How many likes?”

“Uh. Seven thousand, now.” Jay brought up the video on his phone and took it cautiously, admiring the videography on such a low quality phone. There was a strange, alluring shade of blue cast over the car, one that matched Jay’s eyes. A little darker than electric blue, not icy like Zane’s. Comforting, but sharp.

"The lightning looks like your eyes."

"What?"

A soft ' _oh_ ' escaped her mouth as she realised she'd spoken aloud her thoughts, and she hurried to get an answer together. "The—the lightning, it's same colour as your eyes."

"Oh. Thank you." Jay was visibly surprised and let her give him his phone back.

Without thinking, she brushed a lock of curly brown hair out of Jay’s eyes. He didn’t seem to notice, but there was a pinkish colour blushing his cheeks that Nya wasn’t quite sure why it was there.

“It’ll be fine, Jay. Look, your username is nothing like your real name, your face isn’t even in the video, and you could always say someone snuck into the junkyard and took it without you knowing.”

Her solution appeared to lift his spirits, and suddenly his arms were around her neck in a tight hug and this time her cheeks were going pink which she struggled to take control of. She didn’t notice Cole, her supposed-to-be boyfriend staring at her, not wistfully, rather knowingly. She didn’t notice the others heading up the Hydra-Blast, and she forgot about the mini Zane. She didn’t notice that this hug was going on for much longer than it should have.

She didn’t notice how fast her heart was beating when Jay tugged her up the stairs with the prospect of sliding down the Hydra-Blast ahead.

**cole**

He needed to end it quickly. It was basically dissolving anyways, and Cole would prefer cutting all ties to things unnecessary so he could focus on his crumbling relationship with his father and the dawning prospect of the dance team. All he had to do was touch Nya’s arm at the end of the Hydra-Blast to draw her aside.

“Nya, we need to talk.”

The Smith sister steeled herself like she knew what was coming.

“I think, honestly, that people are already over this drama, so it’s safe for us to ‘break up’. I’ve got stuff at home and at school and I can’t…” he waved his hands about a bit, “Do this.”

“No, I understand,” Nya said firmly, though she looked slightly crestfallen. Cole wasn’t sure why. “You focus on whatever it is, my parents are coming home and the drama has blown over. It was fun— _ funny _ while it lasted, Brookstone.” The usually steel-faced girl seemed down, and her joke fell with it.

“Why don’t you and Jay go ride the Chimera Bowl?” He suggested, watching for her reaction with a slight grin. He didn’t want or need a love life right now, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t poke about in others.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“No reason.”

“Stop it.”

“Why are you annoyed? I’m just smiling.”

“You’re smiling like you know something!”

“Well if I know it and you don’t know what I know how do you know what I know or what you  _ think  _ I know.” Cole stopped to think of his confusing words.

“Did Jay just possess you?” asked Nya, a quirk in her eyebrow.

“Ha! So you  _ are  _ thinking about Jay!” Cole cheered triumphantly.

Nya scoffed, but it wasn’t a very believable one because she choked on her words. “Why—why would I be thinking about Jay?”

Cole tried to rearrange his facial expression so he looked mysterious. “I don’t know. Why  _ are  _ you thinking about Jay?” Then he ran off back to the others before she could pick up a chair from the baby pool to chuck at him.

The rest of the afternoon was nothing short of enjoyable - Cole forgot all his troubles, forgot dancing, forgot his father’s strange behaviour, but he could not forget the increasingly bigger rocks following him around the park. Kai even tripped over one.

He crouched down, digging the heels of his calloused feet into the gravel lining the side of the pool to examine a rock that had popped up beside him. A normal, everyday one, but out of place compared to the practically artificially, pebble like stones in the water park. Cole had no explanation for this, for any of this really, and hoped that his father’s burst of anger and sudden urge to kick his only child out of the house for the afternoon would provide some solution.

Then someone screamed,  _ six _ someones screamed, high pitched and right where Cole knew his friends were headed. Training kicked in, and it was two seconds from his hunched crouch to a clumsy sprint through tables like a horse tangled with a loose bridle. A shorter shriek followed and he was madly dashing over ice cream stands and small children to find a scene that thoroughly scared him.

His friends had formed a protective ring around their fallen member, but it was unmistakable who was shocked with pain.

Zane lay on the ground, a long piece of sharpened metal speared through his lower calf.

The strange thing was, there was no blood.

**zane**

The first, obvious point was the fact that there was, quite clearly, about a foot and a half of metal piercing his lower right calf.

The second point, just as obvious, was there was no blood gushing from his wound.

The third point, only apparent to Zane, was that he felt no pain.

_ Perhaps _ , he thought wildly, drawing strings of conclusion to each other,  _ the pain is so bad, that I’ve gone numb?  _ But that would mean he would have nerve damage, and somehow he knew that wasn’t the case. He thought back to exactly how he’d ended up with a metal spear through his leg, hoping it would provide some clarity.

_ Cautiously working his way up the tree to retrieve a kid’s towel, Zane was confident in his ability to keep balanced and cool headed this high up. How this towel had ended up this high was another question, but kids were like magicians when it came to trouble. This tree was huge, branching high above the patrons of the park, nearly the same height as the Hydra-Blast nearby it. As a result, the park owners were stingy with money and refused to chop parts that were, in fact, very dangerous and in complete defiance of a water park height safety rule and conduct. _

_ So, there were long spears of metal driven into the thick roots of the trees to keep it planted there against harsh storms. As such, long metal wires tied from the branches to the metal poles were to keep the chunky branches from whipping across the park widely in storms. Zane carefully picked his way across a particularly broad branch and tested it for stability before snatching the towel off a gnarled knot on the tree. It became stuck on the second tug, so he wriggled forwards and used only his legs to keep his hold on the tree. _

_ That was his mistake. _

_ The towel came free from the tree, and so did Zane. _

_ Plummeting through cold wires, sharp twigs, branches and cool palms of leaves, Zane felt he was falling for an awfully long time. He thrashed around, trying to stop himself from being caught in the metal strings. He hit the ground with a sickening crunch, and his bones groaned. Zane’s girlfriend was the first to register what happened, and let out a shriek of fear. He cast his eyes downwards and gulped. _

_ No blood. _

_ No pain. _

_ But a very long, pronged piece of metal snapped out of the ground from the force of his fall and driven through his calf. _

Finally finished with re-examining a traumatising memory, Zane scrambled back, his spine hitting the tree. Children around them shied away from him, and his friends grouped closer. Jay, out of nowhere, grabbed a bottle of ketchup and squirted the contents onto Zane’s wound.

“Why would you do that?” hissed Cole, looking a bit sick himself.

“I don’t know! It looks better that way!” cried Jay, waving his hands about. Nya pulled them down, taking charge easily.

“We need to call an ambulance. Kai, use your phone—”

“No.”

Their heads, Zane’s included, swivelled to face the stern, commanding tone that came from Evan.

“We need to take him home. Dr Julien will sort it out.”

Evan’s gaze, eyes replicas of Zane’s, fell on his older brother. Zane could sense the seriousness of his tone - the urgency behind his words as he repeated them.

“We need to go home.” Then, snappier, to get everyone going, “We need to go  _ home _ !”

“Evan, I don’t think Dr Julien is the right type of doctor for that…” Lloyd trailed off as Evan switched his grim gaze to him, unnerving as he tilted his head.

“Take him home.”

Zane’s friends still hesitated though, unsure of whether it was a good idea to take instructions from a child.

“Listen to him!” ordered Pixal, her green eyes scanning Evan seriously. The younger Julien gave Pixal a short, sharp nod which she reciprocated. “Take Zane home.”

**pixal**

_ Dear universe, I swear if you try to pull this again, I will come find you and kick you in a not nice place. _

Her friends pulled themselves together - Pixal’s orders, coming from someone they looked to in panicked situations, were followed quickly as they threaded a plan together.

Nya, a natural born leader, fell alongside Pixal as they concealed Zane’s leg with a towel. None of them had a car, Cole’s truck was at home, so that left the bus. Concealing the wound, Kai, Cole, Pixal and Nya helped carry Zane to the bus. Shuffling to the back, Lloyd and Jay distracted the conveniently only other person there, the bus driver, with constant blabber.

Zane, the entire time, remained silent. His blue eyes seemed dimmed, his face pale as usual, showing no signs of pain. Pixal had his head still on her lap, knowing he didn’t like his hair messed up - not like Kai’s weird obsession, Zane liked his hair and clothes uniform to prevent himself from getting distracted. Her fingers tapped gently on his shoulder, his hand resting on her knee.

_ Dot. Dot. Pause. Dash. Pause. Dot. Dot. Dot. Long pause. Dash. Dash. Dash. Pause. Dash. Dot. Dash. _

**_It’s okay._ **

His reply was slow and drawn out, light on her knee.

_ Dot. Dot. Long pause. Dash. Dot. Dash. Dash. Dot. Pause. Dash. Dash. Dash. Pause. Dot. Dash. Dash. _

**_I know._ **

\--

**A/n: hey guys! So uh... I realised I was already going *insane*, ergo, I feel really bad doing this, but updates will be once a week for each story.**

**Mondays: moral of the story**

**Thursday: core four fun**

**Saturday: bonus day still (ninjago/tmc one shots, vacation, tales of tears and embers)**

**i feel bad doing this but school is literally already so insane and busy and stuff at home's not doing so well, writing is one of my escapes, but unfortunately i can't spend this much time on it. HOWEVER, this change does mean quality >quantity, chapters might be longer, even. Mos is looking to be quite a few chapters as i’ve said, and i’m working along with it, getting somewhat of a plan together.**


	22. [20] haha, yeah, stabbed...

**evan**

Evan knew little of the bus schedule of Ninjago City, but surely no bus could move  _ this  _ slow. The portly man who was laughing at Jay and Lloyd’s jokes was switching his eyes from the road to the two highschool boys, laughing heartily as he casually rounded the steering wheel with one pudgy hand. Evan stalked forwards, lips pressed tightly together as he looked back at his brother.

Only Dr Julien would be able to fix this.

“Perhaps,” Evan said softly, sitting down next to Lloyd, who had taken to Evan quite well, “You might get him to hurry along before your funny jokes send him into a coma of hysteria?”

“Alright,” Lloyd said, frowning a little, “Evan, look, you’re a good kid, but I don’t think that Dr Julien is going to—”

Evan simply remained quiet, letting his expression do the talking. He knew that sometimes silence was a better weapon, and his gaze, cool, unmoving, his jaw clenched tightly, was surely working. Why wouldn’t they believe him? Evan was young, but his knowledge was far greater than any of them knew.

“Okay,” Lloyd subsided, “But you should call ahead and tell your dad that you’re coming home.”

Evan nodded, slinking away towards Pixal - the only other person he knew he could trust, because she was like Zane. And Zane was like Evan, just a little older. He tugged on her sleeve to get her attention which primarily was focused on her boyfriend. Evan shuddered. _ Love _ , he thought despondently,  _ was not an affair he wanted to meddle with. _

“Pixal, do you have my father's phone number?” She seemed surprised, and Evan sighed to himself.

“I don’t have a phone.”

“Here, you call him,” Pixal murmured distractedly, still tapping on Zane’s shoulder. Evan noticed with great interest that Zane responded lethargically by tapping and drawing on her knee.  _ More code _ , he realised, proud of himself to figure that out with little context.

He moved a few seats down to have some privacy, drawing his knees up to chest as his back leant against the window. The dialling tone rang dully, then droned to a stop as the automated message came on.  _ Yes, hello, why are you calling? Leave a—  _ there was a loud crash and Evan jumped himself at the accidental recorded noise. 

“Zane’s hurt. We’re bringing him home.” short, sharp, and efficient. Evan nodded to himself as the beep signalled the end and he gave Pixal her phone back.

Part of him was glad that Dr Julien hadn’t picked up. It was bad enough he’d remembered everything, bad enough that he couldn’t have Zane and him join forces to make sure the inventor would divulge in the information Evan knew all too well. Surely, now, with Zane ‘hurt’, and ketchup smeared over the wound, Dr Julien would open up.

Evan frowned as the bus passed an alleyway. Momentarily, he caught sight of two girls, one wearing a cloak, another tangled in the straps of her bag and her knee set in an awkward position. The bus passed the strange scene in a flash, and before Evan registered it, they were at their stop. Pixal and the others helped carry Zane out and Evan joined the distraction team, offering the bus driver a poor attempt at a smile as he backed out.

“Hurry!” The carriers quickened their pace, shuffling along towards the Julien house. They paused outside of the door, realising they had no key, when Zane lifted his hand and tossed the keys into the air. Kai caught it and fumbled with them before unlocking it and taking his place once more. Lloyd and Jay double checked to make sure no one was looking at them, locking the door.

Evan was banging his fist on his father’s door impatiently, dropping his calm guise to demand answers. There was a lot of shouting from inside, mixed voices from a call before Dr Julien wrenched the door open, his glasses askew and his face pained.

“Evan? Zane? And...friends?”

“Zane’s hurt.” Evan said shortly, jerking his head for the others to shuffle forwards to show his father. For a boy who was considerably shorter than everyone but Jay, he conveyed a lot of poise and stern order.

“Oh my,” Christopher Julien whispered.

“Oh my, my ass.” interjected Kai hotly, “He’s got metal through his leg! And ketchup!” Then he took a long slurp of his energy drink to fill the silence.

“Yes, I don’t quite understand why such a condiment would be on Zane’s leg.” frowned Evan’s father, neatly avoiding the topic at hand.

“Oh, that was me,” piped up Jay affably, “It just looked so strange, him being stabbed by metal and not bleeding, y’know?”

Pixal clapped her hands together with a sigh, drawing everyone’s attention to her. She tipped her head towards Evan, her explanation brief. “Evan said we shouldn’t take my not-bleeding boyfriend to a hospital, because  _ you _ could fix this. Care to explain?”

Dr Julien turned into a goldfish, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to find his words.

“Yes—yes, Evan, Zane and Pixal can come in.”

“DO NOT DO THIS CHRISTOPHER.” thundered a voice from Dr Julien’s laptop.

Pixal stood on her tiptoes to look over the inventor’s shoulder. “Dad?”

“Christopher, please, don’t tell her.” begged Cyrus Borg through the call.

“Tell me what?” snapped Pixal, her patience broken. She helped Zane limp inside and Evan slipped in before the door closed behind him, locking it with his fingers crossed.

Dr Julien helped Zane up on a workbench to rest, Pixal and Evan took the other two chairs in the room as he sat behind the desk, running his fingers through his stark white hair nervously. Knowing what was coming, Evan remained quiet, folding his hands together.

“Well, you see Pixal, your father doesn’t want me to tell you that you’re, well, an android.”

_ Not the best execution. _

“An android?” blurted Pixal, her eyes flashing a dangerous shade of green.

“No!” howled Borg from the computer’s speakers, and there was a faint sound of something being bashed and Evan suspected that it was Borg’s forehead in contact with his desk.

“Yes,” nodded Dr Julien, his shoulders trembling. 

“And, well, Zane and Evan are androids too.”

**skylor**

The now engaged lady kissed her fiance again and Skylor bit on her tongue as she averted her gaze away from the happy couple to where Liam was sitting in front of her. She had to admit he looked quite nice, a button down shirt and pants that matched the vibe of the restaurant, which was,  _ fancy _ . Harumi had chosen everything for Skylor that she was wearing.

Apparently, her eyelashes could do with some darkening. A light layer of makeup, a natural look, the mayor’s daughter had said. Skylor had been forced into a little black dress which clung to her skin like a leech and was dreadfully uncomfortable, however, as Harumi had predicted, Liam thought she looked quite nice.

She took a swig of her water and carefully cut a corner of their shared dessert which was slowly dwindling in size, pausing to offer Liam a light smile. He returned it with a grin, and Skylor tucked a loose strand of wine-red hair from her low bun behind her ear. She thanked her mother for not giving her a fake-looking red, rather a rich, glossy tone that accompanied the glint of amber in her eyes beautifully.

“So, what house did you get?” Liam asked, getting on common ground.

Skylor blinked twice. “Oh, Dragons.”

“Well don’t you look excited about that,” he smirked, calling for the bill. “I’m in Dragons too.”

“Nice.” she commented, unsure of what else to say. “I can pay for myself.”

Liam laughed, “I’m quite sure of that, but it is gentleman’s common courtesy on a first date to pay.”

She arched a brow expectantly. “So a lady has to pay all the time after that?”

Liam’s words fell over one another as he hurried to redeem himself. “No, no, no I didn’t mean it like that—”

“I was joking,” she chuckled, “I’ll pay when I pay.”

Their fingertips were touching, she noticed, and left her hand there without another thought on it. His hair was brown tousled, maybe a shade lighter than Kai’s, and definitely not as gelled or messed up. And his eyes were a dull brown, not like the deep forest green Kai had.  _ You’re on a date with Liam.  _ She told herself sternly as her date got up to pay.  _ Liam, not idiot Kai. _

_ Handsome looking Kai,  _ argued another voice.

_ Liam is handsome looking too _ , she protested, smiling again as he turned from the cashier to check on her.

_ Really?  _ responded the voice, who eerily sounded like Kai himself, smug as usual.

She was about to bite back another reply in her head when Liam sat down again and flashed her a smile.  _ He does that alot _ , she sighed inwardly.

“I’ll drop you home.” Liam said, gracefully getting to his feet again.

“I should hope so, seeing as you picked me up and I don’t have a car.” She tried to have it come off lightly and more of a joke than a sarcastic remark, because Liam didn’t seem to get her offhand sense of humour. She smiled again, unaware of the effect it had as Liam got his stuff together, and she slipped her arm through the crook of his right. It was the least she could do for a very tasty meal.

Her mind betrayed once more as she compared everything Liam had to what Kai owned and always boasted about. Skylor pinned it down to his constant gloating scarring her brain. Liam dropped her off and dared to peck her on the cheek before leaping into his car and revving the engine loudly. Prising off the painful pair of kitten heels she was wearing, Skylor collapsed on the stumpy sofa in her tiny home living room and puffed her cheeks out, releasing a slow breath only to bury her face into the pillows.

Groaning in the smushed pillows, Skylor tramped to her bathroom to shower and hopefully avoid human contact for the next forty eight hours, but of course, there was school tomorrow. Friday. Her hair darkened by the water of her shower, she twisted it into a similar, simpler style of her hair this evening and curled up on the sofa, turning the TV on. It was a reality TV show of high schoolers living their drama-caked lives, and Skylor admired the way they easily talked to each other. She knew they were from a script of course, but the parts of their own thrown in with such friendly manner made her jealous.

Someone knocked on her front door and she groaned once more, peeling herself off the couch to open it.

“Dad?”

“Skylor?”

He took a large gulp of coffee from his paper cup, shook himself and then cheered up instantly with the caffeine. “Sky-Sky!”

“It’s late,” Skylor remarked, looking at the clock hanging on her wall.

“Is it?” Chen said, blinking slowly. “The world is spinning.”

“How much coffee have you had—”

“EIGHT!” bellowed her father triumphantly. “EIGHT CUPS OF COFFEEEEE!”

“Shush!” she took him by the shoulders gently, trying not to jostle the ninth cup of coffee he was sipping from. “Come inside dad, I’ll get you some water. And you need a walk. Some fresh air too.”

She sat her father down on the cushy armchair facing the TV, watching his jittery behaviour with a frown that extended with each jerky, fast movement Chen performed. Filling up a plastic cup of water, Skylor passed it to him, switching out the cups quickly and hoping he wouldn’t notice the difference. His eyes squinting at the TV, he slowly raised the cup to his lips and almost tipped the water in, stopping to gape at something else. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet and sprinted in the direction of her toilet, and the sickening sounds of retching echoed down the short hallway.

Skylor grimaced, tearing a sheet of paper towel from the roll. Heading down the corridor, the vomiting stopped for a precious second before it resumed. The door was slightly ajar, and the crumpled form of her father was slumped over the toilet, tiredly raising his head to heave the bare contents of his stomach.

“ Ria ? Is that you?” His hand reached up to push back a loose strand of wavy hair.  Ria was her father’s nickname for her mother.

“Sorry dad, it’s just Skylor. Not  Arianna .”

“Oh.” He went back to vomiting, and Skylor pulled his shirt back, handing him the paper towel to wipe his mouth. 

After a few more minutes of her father heaving into her toilet from over indulging in the rich coffee he had imported, he stood up on woozy legs, and Skylor helped him into his golf cart and called for a guard to drive him back. His shirt was miraculously clean, his eyes heavily bagged, and his tie loose, stained with coffee.

“Make sure he doesn’t have any more.” Skylor said, leaning over to hug her dad. The guard gave her a short nod and then pressed on the gas.

“Jeez.” She kicked the door shut with her foot and poured herself a tall glass of ice cold water. Her dad needed help, for overworking himself and his coffee addiction. He wouldn’t listen to her, maybe a therapist? She needed someone to talk to who consumed an inhumane amount of caffeine, and she thought through the short list of friends, and landed, disappointingly, on Kai. He was never without an energy drink in hand, and somehow he had his life together.

Reluctantly, she called his number and found a cheese and fruit platter in her fridge prepared by her maid to snack on. About to give up on the human porcupine, Skylor almost ended the call herself when he picked up.

“Yo, who is this?”

“Skylor.”

“Chen?”

“Do you know another daughter of a noodle empire billionaire?”

“Maybe, can you give me her number?”

She imagined what Liam’s confused response would have been and forced a growing grin down.

“No, sorry, she can’t come to the phone right now, but I’m here so you’ll just have to make do with me.”

He sighed dramatically. “What do you need?”

“What if I just want to talk with you?”

“I’m a man of many admirable qualities, one of which is my hair, another my face, but I think you have an ulterior motive.”

She openly groaned and wished another of her friends was a coffee addict. “I know you drink a lot of caffeine in those drinks of yours, which, by the way, is going to kill you, but I need to know how you stop before you drink too much.”

“Chen, are you secretly a coffee addict? Never took you for one.”

“My dad,” she said slowly, testing out the waters. Currently, the waves were lapping back at the shore lazily in effortless banter. “May need help with coffee. He drinks a lot to cope with work and stuff, so I need tips on how to stop him from drinking too much.”

“Why’d you call me? Just use Google, you boomer.”

“I didn’t think of it, so just tell me before I end the call.”

“Honestly, I dunno. My body just tells me when to stop, how much energy I need. I’m guessing for your dad, he doesn’t know how much is enough, but I’m not an expert. Coach brought in a nutritionist a couple of semesters ago, maybe look out for one?”

“Thanks.” she didn’t really know what else to say - she hadn’t expected him to pick up in the first place, let alone give her good advice.

“Is it... bad?” Kai tried, though Skylor couldn’t rid his smirking face from her brain, so his somewhat sincere question ended up comical.

“He just threw up in my toilet for a solid five to ten minutes, walked in like the world was spinning and thought I was my mother.”

“Oh. Do you look like her?”

Skylor tried to focus the hazy picture of her mother, a memory she barely remembered. “I guess. My mum and dad both are red heads, sorta wine coloured. And my eyes, I got them from her.” The more she concentrated, the more Skylor fitted into her mother’s memory. “I guess I look like her.”

“Well, then I guess she’s a very pretty lady.”

“Please don’t flirt with my deceased mother.” For dramatic flair, she halted a second. “It’s just plain weird.”

“Night Chen,” He laughed from the other end, and despite herself, she laughed along., her stomach twisting along with it.

“Goodnight pine-head.”

“Hey!—”

As she was typing out a hesitant ‘yes’ to Harumi’s invite to sit with them at lunch on Friday, embarrassingly, Skylor realised she’d smiled more times in a simple five minutes call with Kai Smith than her entire date with Liam.

**A/N: holy shizzer that chapter was long. Like. almost 3k, 2.8k? This is what i meant, possibly longer chapters, hopefully better quality. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, though i did struggle a bit with skylor’s, i actually skipped ahead to write the start of the next chapter (astra / cassie / sog ) before coming back there. It’s been a while since i had a solid chunk for each pov, and before i knew it, skylor’s pov was 1.7k words. Like bruh. I also didn’t realise how much like...freer? I feel only having to upload once a week, assessments are truly crazy, and i realised how much happier im feeling and im way more productive. Damn… i hate how long it took me to get the plot rolling.**

**I do have some questions though :)**

**So, i have a plotline for the ninja**

**Or, i can follow through some seasons from the shows with some changes, showing how they struggled through highschool.**

**Or i could do both. Tbh, i haven’t even decided yet and jeez this book is gonna be like 30+ chapters. Lmu (a little messed up) is looking to be the same, i need to plan out the plot and so on and on. Anyways, until next monday, hopefully with a chonky chapter!**

**OH YEAH i also remember, i wanted to say that ik alot of people have skylor’s mom’s name headcannoned as ‘amber’, but i was like. Bruh. thats so obvious. Even though the irony would be funny, i just didn’t feel like it fit. So yeah. Ooo, and in terms of days, i guess waterpark afternoon happens on thursday, skylor’s date is thursday as well, and friday is schoolio. And kai didn’t mention zane+stabbed+no blood because,** **_because_ ** **, I said so. :)**

**-dommie out**


	23. [21] stop i coulda drop ma tea (it's piping hot with secrets btw)

**tw: mentions/signs of domestic abuse (please skip over the parts, i’ll put a sign there if you feel uncomfortable, skip over them)**

**astra**

“You’ve dyed your hair.” she said stupidly, staring at the very much alive and working body of her sister Cassandra.

“Yes, well, believe it or not, being dead meant I had to change up a few things.” Cassie stuck out an arm, picking up Astra’s school bag with the other. “Come on, I’ll take you back.”

“Back where?”

“Headquarters.”

“May I remind you,” Astra said in a shrill voice punctuated by shock, “That  _ you _ are supposed to dead.”

“As a dodo.” Cassie interjected, nodding her head along.

“And you work for the Sons of Garmadon? A street gang?”

“You’re taking this quite well,” her sister noted, her hand still jutting out in offer.

“No I am  _ not _ . Answer my questions!”

“For your first, yes, I suppose I do work for the SOG, and the second, oh ho, it’s more than a street gang.” Cassie’s voice had changed, if possible it was even more confident, not cocky, but strong and unwavering. As for her looks, her hair was a blinding white, the tips fading out into her original dusty blonde. She was wearing a swishy cloak that danced behind her with every step, and she was fitted out in tight, all black clothing, a belt strapped across her waist holding the sharp looking dagger she’d whipped out before.

“And why should I come with you? A—an assassin?”

“I wouldn’t call it that.” Cassandra took another look at her outfit. “Yeah, I would call it that. And that broken kneecap of yours, Obi and Joker might have to operate.”

Astra backed up even further into the corner and almost screeched in pain. “How can I trust you, miss-oh-i’m-not-dead, surprise bitch?”

“You can’t.” Cassie said plainly, crouching down so her cowl fell over her face, darkening it in ominous shadow. “But I doubt you’d want to go home with that.” She pointed to Astra’s crooked knee. “Also, we might want to ask the big guy about, the uh,” she mimed shooting something out of her fingers like Astra had done earlier. 

**tw: da / start**

“I don’t want to go home full stop.” Astra muttered darkly, narrowing her eyes as she let a controlled, slow breath escape her lips. She had two options, neither of which looked very bright for the future. A), she could trust her back from the dead older sister who apparently was an assassin working with the Sons of Garmadon and have her friends operate on her knee. If it needed operating. B), slink back home, well, hobble like the hunchback of Notre Dame, cough up her money that  _ she’d  _ earned from her baking, earn herself a few bruises, maybe a slap because she was late again and she needed to do all the chores for the house and make dinner. 

She winced, imagining a hard hook to her jaw that was still healing over, it’d broken skin and was bleeding, altogether a terrible night, just because she’d failed to get the carrots out. Tempers, she’d learned, were easily triggered if you were tense all the time and wanted an outlet, a punching bag. Fortunately for Astra’s parents, and unfortunately for her, it was Astra. And they weren’t the happiest with each other either.

Anger channelled in hurtful words bounced off her harmlessly, she couldn’t care less, and she’d developed a thick skin against their curses, but her skin wasn’t strong enough to deal with the more… physical things. It had started small, mostly verbal, after Cass ‘ _ died _ ’, until the point where every little movement sent them into a torrent of anger and vengeance.

All in all, home was not a place she liked. It hurt like a bitch, but where else was she supposed to go? And if she showed up with a broken knee, accusing her father after he pushed her down the stairs, she might as well toss herself out of the house.

**tw: da / finish** ****

“I’ll go. You promise to let me go...home after?” Astra took Cassie’s hand finally, groaning as she got up.

“Depends,” she said dubiously, craning her neck. “It looks pretty bad. But Joker and Obi are better at this stuff than I am.”

“What kind of names are Obi and Joker? Are they Jedi?” her poor attempt at a joke fell flat as Cassie helped her limp down the street, the older Harlow’s expression grim.

“I don’t think you want to joke about that. Those aren’t their real names anyway, Obi’s is Obliterate and Joker’s  _ is  _ Joker. We have our names coded to protect our identities, so when we get to HQ, call me Troya, or Destroyer.”

“That’s dark.”  _ Joke through the pain _ .

“Precautions, and we take them seriously. I’ll have to blindfold you when we get close to an entrance, by the way.”

“Extra.” Astra quipped quietly.

“Extra, but you have no idea how important our identities are, and I think for your sake, I’ll just give you your own.”

Astra tilted her head in question as they rounded the corner of a smoothie shop.

“Rea,” Cassie smiled like a cat, cunning with her creativity.

“What does that stand for?”

“Reaper. Grim Reaper has a nice ring to it, actually”.

o o o

“I still don’t get why  _ I  _ need a code name. Like, I’m not going to be one of your targets or hits. Am I?” Cassie was basically carrying Astra  _ and  _ her school bag at this point, as she could barely touch a toe to the floor and put pressure on it.

Her sister made a snort sound dignified. “Again, for your safety.”

“But why is it so ominous? Like Grim Reaper means death. I mean a barrage of curses and possibly a broken knee heading your way.”

“A definitely broken knee, and you’ll see. The Lord’ll see you about that.” Cassie turned into another dark alley that looked perfect for a mugging. Perhaps  _ they _ were doing some mugging. But Cassie gently set her down and rummaged around her utility belt, pulling out a dark strip of cloth.

She wound it around Astra’s head three times and tied the knot off. Astra couldn’t see a thing, but Cassie asked if she could see the fingers she was holding up. She couldn’t, but she tried anyway.

“Three?”

“Eight.”

“Ah.”

Cassie moved around a bit, and even in total darkness, Astra barely heard anything. Her sister must be good at this kind of work, and she should be since she’d disappeared well over a year ago and better have a good excuse as to her faked death. Then she was lifted again, and lowered into a space darker than her blindfold, significantly colder as a chilled breeze fluttered past. Her sister started walking again, but even her assassin training couldn’t conceal the sloshing of water that Astra’s ears perked up at.  _ Water, underground, cold. I’m in the sewers?  _ Her sister wasn’t doing a very good job at the secrecy, but she’d mentioned that this was only one of several entrances to the Sons of Garmadon headquarters.

It was then Astra realised that her sister was trusting her not to run off at the first chance to tell the police. But the Ninjago City police, in her opinion, were a bit pathetic. Right now, her opinions were mixed and blinded by biased pain, which hopefully, this ‘Obi’ and ‘Joker’ could fix. The sloshing stopped, and Astra was set down on hard, butt-freezing ground that was probably sewer concrete. 

“Name?” came a new voice, lower, and gruffer, sounding vaguely like her history teacher. If it was, she’d pass out. As it was, it was a surprise she hadn’t fainted from her knee, however, as long as there was no blood, it was all okay. Bruises were fine, maybe a scratch or too, but too much blood and you might as well knock her out with a club.

“Troya.”

The silence left lingering in the air was incredibly uncomfortable and Astra was about to say something when Cassie -  _ Troya _ , spoke again.

“He likes sausages and mash for dinner, but he’s allergic to both.”

The strange phrase granted Cassie through because Astra was lifted up again, and she went limp as her knee decided to bite back in pain again from the little movement. They went through this process several times, Cassie stopping to set Astra down on the ground again, giving her code name and a new weird phrase. There were also short patterns of buzzes and beeps that varied each time. Strangely enough, Cassie never deigned to explain the body and school bag she was carrying. Maybe it was normal in the Sons of Garmadon to carry bodies around. After the third phrase and checkpoint, Cassie seemed to walk through some sliding door as the air hissed around her. It became a little warmer, though it was still cold this far underground.

The blindfold slid off once Cassie undid the knot, and Astra found herself in a waiting room. It looked identical to the stereotypical doctor’s front room, even with a receptionist’s desk in a white curve of a table, chairs lined on either side of the room. Astra was sitting in one of them, and it was quite comfy. The aesthetic of the room, however, was ruined by a trail of splattered blood, dark red as it was dried, leading to what must be a consultation room.

Her head began going dizzy, from the growing pain and the sight of so much blood casually painting the floor. Squeezing her eyes close, she focused on the plain darkness and forced the swimming image of blood out of her mind.

“Still hate blood?”

Astra opened her eyes again and deliberately kept them on her sister’s face. Cassie still had her hood on, and she hadn’t changed out of her clothes, though her platinum white hair was tied back.

“Yes. A lot. Are Obi-Wan-Kenobi and Arthur Fleck coming?”

“Obi-Wan is going to lop you in half with her lightsaber if you make another joke like that.” scoffed another new voice from behind Astra.

Her clumsy half turn was anything but graceful when she came face to face with Obliterate. She was wearing a surgical mask, and her short bob of frizzy, curly hair was kept prisoner by a plastic blue scrub cap matching her scrubs.

“Troya told me you’ve broken your knee?” Obi, real name unknown, knelt down to examine Astra’s knee. The surprise came with the ease and friendliness Obi had for Astra, a total stranger, who could be plotting against them.  _ Trust runs strong _ , she noted with a brief smile.

Obi gently ran her thumb across her left kneecap and frowned as Astra flinched. She stood up, taking her cap off carefully, and stuck her hands in the pocket of her scrubs. Black, and with a tiny emblem of something Astra couldn’t see over her heart.

“Patella fracture, you were right to bring her in, Troya. Who is she, by the way?” The earlier openness was replaced with strict suspicion.

“New recruit,” explained Cassie quickly. Astra opened her mouth to object to that lie, then closed it. Troya must have a reason. “Rea, or Grim Reaper.”

Obi sighed. “Always one for the dramatics, eh?”

Cassie shrugged. “So, what’s in store for Rea here?”

“I’ll need to examine it further and check if she has hemarthrosis, and she hasn’t got an open fracture thank goodness as that would make my job ten times harder. Rea’ll need an x-ray as well. How did you break this? Joker will have to come in if her bones are displaced, but I’ll need results from an x-ray for that. I want to wait until those bruises heal before,  _ if _ , we need to do surgery. We could just get her a cast, but as I said, that all depends on the x-rays.” 

She said this all very quickly, reminding Astra of her English classmate Jay Walker, who had a tendency to rattle off his thoughts when he was nervous. English presentations and speeches took forever with that guy. The prospect of surgery was not a good one, but anything to get her knee working properly again. Even if it meant trusting a gang member to operate on her.

“Lord Garmadon wants her to come speak to him,” Troya said suddenly, looking up from a tiny black device that had been clipped to her belt.

“No ominous name?” Astra tried weakly. The joke fell flatter than her Jedi joke.

“He doesn’t need a name to be ominous. Don’t speak unless spoken to, and don’t give him a smart ass answer.” advised Cassie, though it was more of a sombre order.

Astra nodded and moved to get up, momentarily forgetting about the fracture of her kneecap. Obi forced her down by her shoulders, looking to Destroyer.

“He can come to her. She’s in no shape to walk.”

Cassie’s face turned into a dour mix of a frown and a grimace. “He won’t like that.”

“I bet he doesn’t like anything. Like, not even ice cream.” piped up Astra, trying to cut the Lord Garmadon-angry-gang-leader tension.

“It’s comments like that,” Cassie said pointedly, “Which are going to get you stabbed.”

“How utterly terrible.” she said simply, earning herself a synchronised sigh from both the SOG members.

“I’ll go prep the x-ray generator. I have to adjust the detector…” Obi rambled off as she opened the doors to another room, muttering to herself.

“I’m serious,” Cassie took a quick look around like a jittery chipmunk. “Starra, you can’t mess with him. He’s the leader of a  _ gang _ , and he won’t hesitate to kill you if he sees you as a threat. This isn’t a kid’s tv show.”

Astra flinched at the mention of her childhood nickname. So Cassie was being sincere. And Garmadon really was dangerous.

“Troya, what was that about me being a ‘new recruit’?”

Her sister shrugged again. “A cover, for now, at least. There wasn’t really another way for you to get in.”

Cassie left with another reminder not to sass Lord Garmadon, and a few, painstaking (literally) minutes later, Lord Garmadon strolled in, sporting a pair of pinstriped golfing pants. Anything but menacing. Astra’s brain jumped at the first thing she thought of.

“Tiger Woods?”

His hand was at the hilt of the dagger at his waist, in a second, the blade whizzing through the air, his face expressionless. She ducked a second before it drove itself into the wall above her. Her heart beating, she straightened her spine and yanked the knife out of the wall with all of her depleting strength. She’d already dug her grave, she might as well cover it with fresh soil.

“You missed.”

He remained quiet, and then something hard hit the back of her head. She reached behind her in a blundering movement to draw out a minimalistic clock that had assaulted her. The string holding it up was snapped neatly into two.

“I don’t miss.”

She made a good decision to keep quiet, squirming under his gaze. Making another note not to compare him to golfers, she was puzzled by his informal dress. He was the leader of the biggest crime group, yet he looked relaxed at a potential spy sitting in his secret base. His face, unsettling, stayed pokered, and his hands went to his pockets. His shirt had a slight stain, and his expression flickered with something,  _ pain _ , she recognised, as she was feeling a lot of it too, and his hands went to his stomach. The edge of a white bandage poked out from under his polo shirt, and that confirmed her suspicions. He was definitely hurt, but he’d nearly killed her without flinching.

He looked at her for another second, made a hmphing noise, and turned on his heel, exiting with soulless dramatic flair.

**zane**

“I’m an...  _ android _ ?” The words fell out of his mouth before his brain truly processed the magnitude of the words.

Pixal, half standing up in her chair, was frozen in shock like he was. Her shoulders were shaking - with tears, he realised, and in deadly quiet, she stalked forwards to where her father was on call with Dr Julien.

“Is he lying?” Her voice was low and threatening, and Zane shivered at the venom spiking every word. He felt sorry for Borg. “Is. He. Lying?”

“No.” Cyrus Borg’s voice quivered at the end, changing the tone to a question, but the answer was there. Zane and Pixal were androids. Robots. They weren’t  _ human _ . And Evan wasn’t either.

“Did you know?” he rounded on his brothers as his feelings,  _ were they even real, or zeros and ones feeding him lies? _ , struck out in anger.

“Yes,  _ yes _ , but I — I only remembered when you found me earlier today. I could remember  _ him _ , I could see him building me, and I have memories, or whatever they are, about him talking about building you.”

“And if I hadn’t gotten injured, would you have told me?” Zane said coldly, his eyes piercing his brother’s.

Dr Julien interrupted before Evan could spit out a reply. “He’s telling you the truth, my boy. I — I missed you so much and I needed help with some of my projects. I’d been building Evan for a year when I realised that his core, your  _ heart _ , I couldn’t replicate that. A stranger, an old man who carried the frost with him came just as I finished building you, and he gave you your core. I couldn’t make another one, so I gave up on Evan.”

“And then — one night, I was working late and suddenly Evan jerked upright from that very table you’re sitting on, and he had this look in his eyes just like when you powered up. He was covered in this layer of frost, shaped into little gears. And I thought that stranger who gave you your core, Zane, he must have given Evan a new one, somehow. But I looked him up, and I’m afraid he died shortly after he visited us. I was researching my suspicions every spare minute I had to give, and I even asked Mr Borg here help me with that. For a month, I kept Evan down in my workshop, until I couldn’t wait any longer. I let you meet, right before I discovered the truth about the man who gave you your core...”

Christopher Julien hesitated there, but Zane’s glare, clenched jaw and sharp, icy look in his eyes egged him on with spite.

“He was something called an Elemental Master, and it was very difficult to find this information, my boy, and I realised that he’d passed his power onto you, Zane. You’re the next Elemental Master of Ice.”

**A/N: holy crap even i didn’t see that coming. Okay, i sort of did but like bruh. I did not plan on** **_that_ ** **reveal, but zane and dr julien hit me in the head with a club and told me to** **_get on with the fcking plot dommie_ ** **(zane wouldnt swear ik unless its bad). Yes zane’s part is short, but i am a** **_dramatic_ ** **writer, and yes you can expect like 2.5k-3k chapters to make up for the once a week update. Depends, again, on school deciding to *** **_murder_ ** *** me. Also, i have become accustomed to inserting possible muggings anywhere i can because i’ve been watching tommyinnit’s streams and his muggings (cough, quackity) are beginning to get into my writing.**

**With the subject of ‘cores’ you’ll see how evan has one, and zane’s is gifted from the em of ice. I was wondering for pixal, if you guys wanted her to have elemental powers, or just to be a samurai? I have backstories for both instances, so let me know!**

**ANNNNND today's chapter is dedicated to Iva!!!!! today is her birthday I couldn't finish a oneshot in time, so happy birthday iva, chapter 21 is yours![iva_951](https://www.wattpad.com/user/iva_951) also has a few books up which I totally suggest reading :)**

**tw: da**

**On a separate note, domestic abuse is a serious subject. It does not take just physical forms. It could be a family member, a carer, or a partner. It’s when someone controls, threatens, shows physical and verbal abuse to you. The signs may start out small but it slowly becomes apparent to the victim, and they often struggle with the idea with someone they trust(ed) hurting them. Despite what some people think, you can’t just up and go. This happens all around the world and even where you least expect it. People may discount verbal abuse as domestic abuse, but that is not the case. You slowly grow numb to the things thrown at you, and often, you can’t tell if it is verbal abuse or normal everyday happenings. You can be scared to reach out to people. An abuser uses fear, guilt, and shame to keep you under control. And it doesn’t happen just to girls as well, though statistics show that it is more likely. Your situation may seem small compared to the brave people who have reached out for help, but any domestic abuse is abuse. I’ve attached links below if you’d like to read more about it. Astra’s situation at home is definitely toxic, and I urge you all to read more on this topic. It can easily be swept under the rug as it can/has become ‘normalised’. Please remember you can always pm me on wattpad or dm me on either of my accounts on instagram if you need to talk.**

[ **https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/** ](https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/)

[ **https://parents.au.reachout.com/common-concerns/everyday-issues/domestic-violence-and-teenagers** ](https://parents.au.reachout.com/common-concerns/everyday-issues/domestic-violence-and-teenagers)

[ **https://www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/** ](https://www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/)

[ **https://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/domestic-violence-and-abuse.htm** ](https://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/domestic-violence-and-abuse.htm)

**It’s been a long a/n, so**

**-dommie out**


	24. [22] look at all them c̶h̶i̶c̶k̶e̶n̶s̶ emotions

**zane**

“So you’ve been lying to me my whole life?” he said flatly, ignoring his father’s earlier words. 

“My boy, it’s not like that—”

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ call me ‘ _ your boy _ ’. I. Am. Not. Your. Boy.” His hand found the knob of the door. “You lied to me. So you have no right to call me  _ your boy  _ when I am anything but that!”

“Zane!”

He slammed the door shut behind him with strength he didn’t know he had.

_ Android. _

_ I am Zane Julien. _

_ I am Zane. _

_ Zane. _

_ Android. _

He was running down the street when he noticed that each step left a thin layer of ice on the ground, in the shape of his shoe.

_ You’re the next Elemental Master of Ice. _

His heart,  _ core _ , was beating wildly in his chest as he surpassed the greatest length he’d ever run. And he found it easy, pushing off from one foot to the next, keeping his breath steady, shooting off with rage fuelling him. Zane felt like he could run for miles, and he probably could. Because he was an android. A robot, scraps of metal and technology, he wasn’t  _ human _ . He was running with the wind like he was sliding on ice, and he knew that he’d never pushed himself this far before, and his capabilities of a robot meant he probably could run for miles on end. 

The metal was still lodged in his leg, he noticed, after it whacked the leg of a park bench. He sat down and tentatively gripped one end of it.  _ You are metal _ , he reminded himself sternly.  _ It shouldn’t hurt. No AI should feel pain, and you didn’t feel pain when you fell on it _ . He pulled it out calmly, having reassured himself that he couldn’t feel anything.

The metal pole left a jagged, gaping hole in what definitely wasn’t flesh. He peered inside, spotting a maze of wires and boards and structures that built up his calf. His father wasn’t lying. All hope died down of this being a gigantic, illogical prank. If Zane hated anything more than people lying to him and using his trust, it was a situation in which he couldn’t make sense of anything.

This definitely was one of them.

First, he was an android, made out of metal.

Second, his father, and Evan, had been lying to him.

Third, he was something called an Elemental Master.

And fourth, he didn’t know what to do.

He was helpless, and Zane did not like that. He definitely couldn’t do anything about the first point, but the second and third… He could see Dr Julien’s intentions, a lonely man with the prospect of his creations coming to life, it was a modern day Pinocchio, and Zane wasn’t a wooden doll, but a boy of metal and wires. The more he thought about it, more pros and cons popped up to battle each other. He couldn’t get hurt, or feel things, but did that mean his emotions were fake? He was physically fit beyond human capacity, but would that be his downfall? And now, even under his skin, he stuck out and was more than just the weird, studious boy at school.

He was a  _ freak _ .

“Zane?”

He looked up to find Pixal standing in front of him, looking utterly heartbroken. Zane wanted to beat himself up. He’d forgotten that Pixal must be going through the same thing as he was.

“Pixal, I’m sorry—”

“You can’t be sorry for what we are, Zane.” Somehow, she already knew all his worries. She sat down next to him slowly, and her hand slipped into his. “We can’t change any of  _ this _ , what we are, or our past. We can only change our future.”

“How are you so calm about this?” he said in a small, vulnerable voice he’d never heard before.

“I’m not,” she laughed lightly, squeezing his hand. “But I’m willing to wait for a better explanation. I’m doing this for you, and for my...dad, and for Evan.”

“For Evan?”

“He’s a good kid,” she smiled again, resting her head on his shoulder. “He’s young, and I think he would have told you Zane. A secret that big, I’m surprised your father didn’t let the cat out of the bag earlier. You have to realise how big this was for him to keep it from you. All he wanted to do was keep you safe.”

“It is most likely the same for you and your father, Pixal. He is a very busy man, but I think he’d never recover if he lost you. I don’t have the answers to everything, but I’m willing to take it step by step. I believe that’s all we can handle at the moment.”

“It is...hard to believe that what we are feeling is fake.”

Zane turned to Pixal at her sorrowful statement. “I do not believe it is fake, Pixal. What we have, what we  _ are  _ is real.”

She smiled in response, though she still seemed unsure of herself. “There is something else though,” Pixal started hesitantly, “About you being an Elemental Master of Ice?”

“I’ve never heard of the term before, but from the tone my father used, I suppose it’s one of great importance. Unfortunately, I believe he is truthful from his findings. Watch this.” Zane stood up and walked over to a tree, unsure if he could even do it again. Channelling all of his disappointed and enraged emotions into one, he set off running around the park. The faint crinkle of cracking ice underfoot set a smile growing on his face as he lapped Pixal from where she sat, and halted easily. His ‘injury’ didn’t hold him back, just like before.

“He was right.” breathed Pixal, touching the tip of her index finger to the glassy reflection of the frozen water puddle.

Zane hung his head morosely when he sat down again. “It...just doesn’t make sense. None of this does.”

Pixal’s next words, in his opinion, were rather wise, and he couldn’t ask for a better girlfriend.

“Sometimes it doesn’t make sense. We can’t always fix it, so just go with the flow until you have the power to stop it yourself.”

**kai**

He strolled into school with his bag slung over one shoulder and his hair gelled to perfection. Despite his outer flawlessness, he couldn’t help but be worried. His parents were coming home tomorrow. Zane had somehow impaled himself on a metal pole. And he’d accidentally replied yes to going out on a second date with a girl he was planning sildling away from. Second dates were a rarity. He didn’t want girls getting their hopes up.

He greeted Chad, Liam and Jake with a fist bump, winking jokingly to Harumi who rolled her eyes and stalked off with her cronies flapping behind her. Brittney, the girl he unintentionally led on for a second date, batted her eyelashes at him and he responded with a practiced smirk. Satisfied, she skipped off to regroup with Harumi.

“Easy one, eh?” smiled Jake, whistling after another girl who yelled an obscenity back. He ignored it.

Kai shrugged nonchalantly, sliding his hands into the pockets of his Dragons jacket.

Liam was grinning far more than his abnormal amount, and Kai was sure his face was hurting. “My date last night went well.” he said cooly, his grin somehow spreading even wider.

Chad slammed his locker door shut. “Who?”

“Skylor Chen.” Liam replied with a smirk.

Kai narrowly avoided choking on his energy drink and wiped away the dribble trailing down his chin. “Skylor Chen?”

“He said that already.” grunted Jake.

Liam automatically looked to Chad for his opinion.

“Nice catch, Miller. Her dad’s crazy rich, she’s not bad on the eye...Harumi told me that she was sitting with us at lunch?”

Kai almost choked again and hacked out a raggedy breath.

“What’s up with you, Smith?” Chad frowned, then dismissed his own question. “Just make sure she doesn’t step out of line, Liam.”

Miller nodded like an eager puppy, and Kai halted a second so Liam and Jake flanked Chad. He was too distracted to take on his role as the most popular boy in school right now. He didn’t know that Liam had gone on a date with Skylor. Why didn’t she tell him last night? He trusted Harumi’s words as far as he could throw his sister. Not far, because she would probably land a solid punch to his nose before he could do anything, and he wasn’t in a situation where he could set it crooked.

Harumi and Chad dated on and off, their flings were infamous, but everytime they got back together it was like the Avatar had appeared out of his ice ball again. Kai could sense his spot on the throne as the most popular slowly slipping from his grip as he became more and more distracted with everything else. He didn’t mind. Maybe a year ago he would have. He was content to sit at number two and be the sidekick, because everyone liked the sidekick better. And Chad was a dick. Unfortunately, Kai had spent too long cementing himself in this group. The chance of him separating himself from them was like...he couldn’t come up with a good simile right now. English wasn’t his strong point.

“Yo, I gotta go.” he clapped a hand on Chad’s shoulder and then turned on his heel, hurriedly glugging down his can to keep his attention on something else.

Rounding the corner to the lockers, he found Nya and Cole talking quietly and he properly choked. He forgot they were actually dating. Zane getting stabbed was a mild distraction among other things. Cole took a hasty step back warily from Kai’s sister.  _ Good _ .

Nya turned around, and her face fell. Joy.

“Kai, it’s not what it looks like—”

He sighed like an eighty year old man and slurped the dregs of his drink to give him an extra boost in energy for what was about to happen. He could handle another week of detention, and another fight wouldn't' amount to much on his school record.

“Cole and I were fake dating to keep those jerks you call friends off our backs. We ‘broke it off’ yesterday, so just shut up about us for a few weeks.” Nya kept her tone strict and didn’t allow Cole or Kai to jump in. She cut them both off by swiftly slicing her hand across her throat as she continued speaking. “Just to dumb it down a little for you, we were not dating. Fake. Dating. The plot of many highschool movies.”

“I get it, okay!” he growled, and his annoyed mood grew. “Yadda yadda, sorry for punching you Cole.”

“Apology accepted.” Cole said forgivingly. “And your might as well have pelted me with raisins. Your punches are so light.”

Exasperated and exhausted, he couldn’t bother with coming up with a witty retort, and he resorted to waving the conversation to an end and stuffing his books into his locker to be fashionably late to homeroom. He just hoped Rema wouldn’t use his seat for her bag, because apparently ‘it wasn’t as much of a waste of space.’ Tossing the can into the bin outside the door, he slouched in and slid into his seat, which thankfully, was free.

“Our athletics carnival is only three weeks away! Sign ups will be done through Google forms via an email Mr Hollen will send you guys at the end of homeroom...” Kai tuned out easily and added his worries for the aths carnival to his list of problems.

The first period dragged by dreadfully, and then he had Science. He leaned across from his desk to ask if he could copy last night’s homework.

“Hey, Zane—”

Zane wasn’t there. He frowned, and then crumpled his worksheet into a ball and stuffed it into his bag. Guess his ‘dog’ ate his homework. As it was, Kai had arrived seconds before his teacher had, and now she was taking the role.

“Mira Jeursey?”

“Here!”

“Zane Julien?”

Silence.

Kai quickly took a look around, scanning the room. There was no sign of his friend, or Pixal. Was Pixal in his class? He banished the thought and tried his best to focus on balancing equations revision, but his brain was slipping in a dozy day dream. He was standing in his kitchen, holding a bitten sandwich, and the taste of lettuce lingered in his mouth. Why was he eating a lettuce sandwich? But the dream carried on and Kai’s subconscious had to scurry to keep it. He wasn’t in control of himself, but he could make little movements. The strange smell of smoke came from behind him, and he wrenched his dream body around to come face to face with a raging fire blanketing the kitchen.

It seemed to have spread through the house, and the distinct shriek of his sister from the laundry behind the kitchen launched him into action. He broke free of the hold the dream previously had on him and took control, leaping over the counter to grab a towel. He soaked it in water and was fumbling to tie it around his nose when he accidentally dropped it into the roaring flames. In a blink of an eye, it was charred to a crisp, and Kai gulped, and he hesitated in front of the flames. Then Nya screamed again in terrorising pain that might as well have hurt Kai too, and he was hurtling through the hungry flames, a voice in his head egging him on. It sounded like...Principal Wu?

His body reacted indifferently to what should have been searing burns, instead, they tickled him teasingly, snapping at his heels like yapping puppies with flaming breath. His sister’s yelps of fear and pain were fading, and he skidded to a halt in laundry. It was empty, and suddenly she was yelling from upstairs. A mad dash through the flames left him rushing up the stairs, the fire trailing behind him. He flung open every door, every window, searching, searching desperately for his sister as her cries moved around the house.

It was only eventual that the smoke would lull him into sleep, and strangely, he felt safe in a dream-made cradle of living flames.

**lloyd**

Lloyd walked into lunch with a positive mindset. It disappeared quickly as he scrunched up his face in surprise. They were missing three members of their group at lunch. Pixal and Zane were missing, had been since Zane had legged it out of the door yesterday afternoon and left the rest of them in a daze. He’d been knocked aside like a fly, first by Zane, then barreled through by Pixal. Whatever Dr Julien had told Zane obviously had not gone down well. Evan emerged from the room with a grim expression, but Zane’s younger brother always seemed to have one.

Dr Julien shakily instructed them home, telling them it was a Julien matter. Lloyd realised that he was late for dinner anyways, so it was a mad scramble back to the nearest bus stop. He entered the house silent, and took a shocked step back. The door leading to the tiny kitchen was shut, and two loud voices were competing with each other for volume.

“Explain to me, Monty, why would you  _ leave  _ when you have been  _ shot _ ?” demanded Misako. At the mention of his father’s name, and Lloyd’s middle name, Lloyd grimaced.

“I have responsibilities to attend to.” replied his father, in his cool, deep voice. It would have silenced anyone else immediately, but Misako refused to balk.

“I don’t care if you have  _ responsibilities _ , I have enough on my hands with Lloyd, moving, work, and now I have to babysit you?”

“You don’t have to take care of me!” snapped Garmadon, and Lloyd could almost see him advancing towards Misako through the kitchen door in his imagination.

“You’re Lloyd’s father. I have to care.” Misako said quietly, and then her retreating footsteps had Lloyd running three paces to his bedroom.

He lay on his bed awkwardly when his door creaked open, and he attempted to sound tired.

“Mum?”

“Everything okay, Lloyd?”

He wanted to ask her the same thing, but he nodded and peeled off his shoes. “I ate dinner at the park. The chicken nuggets weren’t that good.”

She laughed, closing the door behind her so she could lean on it. “Lloyd, over the next week, we’re going to have to start packing up our things — only our clothes, nothing like kitchen equipment. We’re leaving all the furniture behind, and I’ve organised for someone to help us take everything over.”

“Uh...what?”

“We  _ may  _ be moving house, Lloyd. I have everything organised, I just need you packed by Wednesday. If not, we just have to unpack.”

“How—”

“No questions, Lloyd. I have everything under control. Just be ready to pack and to unpack.”

“Right.” he couldn’t help if he sounded suspicious. His mum, all of a sudden, decided to pack everything up and  _ leave _ when they were perfectly fine right where they were. Maybe it was because of his father. It sounded like he’d snuck out of the house while suffering from a gun wound.

Did Lloyd care?

That remained to be seen.

Yet now at lunch, he had more issues to attend to. He spotted Skylor looking very uncomfortable at the popular kid’s table, but he shrugged it off and set down his tray of food with a despondent sigh which Jay returned.

“What’s Skylor doing over there?” asked Jay, smushing the tip of his fry into his plate.

“I dunno.” Lloyd replied, to only Jay and Nya.  _ I am very uncomfortable with the energy we’ve created today. _

Nya frowned as Liam slung his arm around their friend’s shoulders, but her attention changed to the loud pinging from Jay’s ancient mobile.

“Shut the muffin up!” cried Jay, who was on the verge of smashing his phone.

Nya winced. “How many likes…”

“A freaking million!” yelped Jay in panic, gritting his teeth in annoyance.

“What’s…?” Lloyd trailed off. It probably had something to do with Jay’s I’m-going-to-be-sued-help TikTok video.

“The video I was telling you about,” Jay said, exhaling very slowly, “Now has a million likes. My phone is literally on  _ fire _ . And TikTok refuses to let me take it down!”

“Damn.” Lloyd whistled softly. “Make sure the fame doesn’t get to your head.”

“It’s not!”

“Sure.”

“It’s  _ not _ .”

“I say leave it up,” Lloyd crossed his arm, and leant against the pillar behind his back. Their table was wedged in a fiddly position. “You could like, make a ton of money from it. Maybe you’ll even meet Fritz Donnegan.”

Jay laughed sarcastically. “Please, in no way is Fritz Donnegan going to talk to me. Lloyd, the guy has no idea who I am. If I was his long lost son, that would be a different question altogether.”

Lloyd lifted his shoulders again in partial defeat and focused on his limp burger, running through a list of things he had to do that day. Replant the stink bombs in Mrs Yallen’s class, start packing, ask Zane for—

“Where’s Zane?”

Nya and Jay looked at each other, shrugging in unison.

“Pixal isn’t here either.” Nya noted, flinging out her arms to emphasise the extra empty space.

There was another ping and the three of them instinctively looked at Jay’s phone. He checked it and shook his head. Then Lloyd unlocked his, an unexpected feeling of dread clawing at his stomach. There was an unread message from Harumi.  _ Crap _ .

“This week has been complete  _ shit _ .” groaned Jay as his phone trilled out again.

“Finally caught on, have you?”

**A/N: oh yeah this is long. *laughs nervously* average of 2.5k to 3k anyone? Also, someone headcanon’ed that garmadon’s first name was montgomery (lloyds middle name) and i was like: yeah! That makes sense. And now i can’t freaking remember who said it, so if you did comment! (lmao if you are even reading this story) It makes sense, anyways, and it would be weird referring to him as ‘garmadon’ the entire time. How am i supposed to be** **_sneakily foreshadowing_ ** **? Anyways, zane and christopher’s (dr julien) fight reminds me of ‘meet me inside’ from hamilton when hamilton and washington are fighting. Aka, the lyrics ‘call me son** **_one_ ** **more time.’**

**You are all free to whack me with wu’s staff because i myself have no idea why i cant speed the ficking plot up but it IS picking up pace and there will be something** **_monumental_ ** **? After this. I think. *laughs at indecisiveness***

**ALSO bruh we are so close to 2k reads like dudes thank y o u. Never thought mos would get this far, or this chaotic, but here we are. Like. how. Anyways, thank you, uh, yeah?**

**-dommie out**


	25. [23] Cole in a tutu...yea or nay?

**cole**

His feet were cumbersome, for dancing. They were big and he didn’t know how to move them, unless he was in sport. There, it was simple movements. Back and forth, side to side, a diagonal, or move on instinct. Dancing was twirling around in a tutu.

Cole didn’t do tutus.

His father was like a hawk Saturday morning, swooping down on Cole with a hungry glint in his eye to know more about his  _ audition _ . Cursed word. Lou sat him down, grinning with glee as Cole dropped his sports bag on the kitchen floor.

“So? How did it go? What type of dance did they ask you to do? Choreography?” Cole blinked slowly, letting the volley of questions halt before answering them slowly as if it pained him.

“It went fine. We did contom— contemporary? The teacher taught us this choreography that lasted twenty-four counts, and we all learnt it. Then we had to answer some theory stuff and show our technique.” His answers were as dull and as bored as possible, but Lou didn’t notice, his happiness spreading over everything. For his sake, Cole tried to look uplifted.

“The team list is getting sent out next week. Very few spots.” he added, emphasising  _ few _ . Lou brushed it off.

“Only one audition?”

Cole shrugged, opening the fridge to get a snack he could wolf down. He was starving, and he needed to practice his plays after lunch so the Coach wouldn’t get on his back. He’d butchered the audition already, and he wanted to be good at the thing he actually enjoyed. The chance of him getting into the dance team was as low as his father’s opinion of his sports career.

“I need to study and uh, stuff this afternoon, Dad.” In between mouthfuls of his sub, Cole watched patiently for Lou’s response.

“Actually, you don’t need to study this afternoon. We’re,  _ ahem _ , going to be sorting through Lily’s things.”

“What?”

“Your mother’s belongings, there’s something I need to find.” Cole waited for more of an explanation, but Lou didn’t offer anything else up.

His father had moved to the spare bedroom shortly after Lily passed away, leaving the master bedroom in a blanket of dust. A thick one, seeing as she’d died ten years ago. There was a difference between trying to forget your childhood memories, and involuntarily losing them. He had precious few of his mother and he hated the fact that in most she was bed-ridden, coughing, but  _ smiling _ . She was always smiling.

Cole smiled for her.

“Sure.” he was dubious, still, but after arriving home from the Julien’s house, his father had offered no reasoning for his outburst. Maybe digging through his mother’s possessions would change that.

His father jumped to his feet and crossed the kitchen to the door, and his footsteps thundering on the wooden stairs had Cole frowning. He scooped up a handful of pebbles sprouting at his toes and chucked them out of the window, not before running his thumb over the rough surfaces. One was uncannily smooth, it didn’t look special, but there was a crude, faint tracing of a lily flower using cracks on the surface.

He sped up the stairs at his father’s call, pocketing the pebble with a small smile. The door to the room was slightly ajar. For some reason he expected a lingering smell of his mother’s perfume, lily and vanilla blossom, but all he smelt was dust. Cole sneezed uncontrollably as he closed the door behind him, making his way to where his father was rummaging through the mirror-doored closet.

The bed still had crisp, untouched, white sheets on it, a little rumpled at the end where Lou’s wallet and phone had been tossed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Cole watched his father pull out box after box of dust-lined things, staring at it, checking the label, then shaking his head like a dog ridding itself of water.

Then finally, when the silence was getting awkward, Lou found the box he wanted. It was at the very back, nestled in a cocoon of moth eaten blankets and shawls, not wanting to be found. Lou groaned, rubbing a hand on his back from his crouch. Cole went to the closet and tugged on the box, letting out a low curse at the weight. Lou whacked him with a sunhat.

“Why,”  _ pant _ , “Do,” another pant, as he checked the scrawl on the label, “You want a box full of outdated encyclopedias?” Cole tugged on it again and fell backwards as the box tumbled out.

“Not what’s  _ in _ it,” reprimanded Lou, crawling forwards to the very back of the deep closet. “What was  _ under _ it.”

Lou poked experimentally at the wood panelling lining the bottom until they both heard a resolute click, and a panel sprung up, sprouting a cloud of dust. Very gently, using his fingertips with as little pressure as possible, Lou drew out a book. It looked like a journal, layered in more dust, but the sunlight bounced off the burnished gold on the symbol in ancient glory. The symbol centered there looked like an earth worn skull of a dragon, the rest of the cover a deep green.

“What is it?”

“Your mother’s, Cole. She was the Elemental Master of Earth, and this is her story.”

**nya**

Imagining a sunny, lazy morning relaxing in their pool was a far away memory as she zipped around the house having taken a sparing gulp of coffee to shoot through her veins, keeping her from dozing off mid-task. Kai, of course, was no help, and he was wallowing around for some reason. Friday at lunch - after Jay’s declaration of the week being shit - she’d had to agree, she’d noticed her brother’s considerable absence from the cafeteria. Mostly because of his spiked up hair and enormous ego that expanded with every minor compliment.

He did eventually stumble in, and a girl leapt up to leech to his arm. He looked dazed, confused, and dumber than usual. But there was this wild look in his eyes, his hair spiked up like flames of a fire as he searched the cafeteria for someone. It ended up being Nya, and she raised her eyebrows back in question but Kai seemed reassured and he slid into his seat. The house was hopefully spotless and it  _ had  _ to be. Her mum and dad were due back home from the airport in fifteen minutes and Nya was about to lock Kai in the basement (which he was still scared of) so he wouldn’t mess up her hard work.

She swirled her finger through the clear water rippling in their pool, wishing that she could swim a few laps, work on her rusty tumble-turn but then, the doorbell rang. If she was on the track team, they would have applauded her sprint to the door, her skid on the hardwood, freshly polished floor with her socks on as she yanked the door open. Maya and Ray’s assistant was standing by the doorbell, her hair twisted into a low sleek bun while she furiously tapped away at her device. She tore her eyes away for five seconds to greet her.

“Nya!” beamed Emille. “You’ve grown so much!”

Nya chuckled, looking down at the ground. “Not really. I got the short genes from our family.”

“Hang on, your parents are on a call right now. They’ll be inside in five minutes.” Emille tapped on the bluetooth earpiece hooked on her ear and her heels click-clacked back with her to the Range Rover sitting in the driveway.

Nya stuck her head back inside, holding the heavy door open with her foot. “KAI! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE!”

There was a smothered bang from the top of the stairs, and then her brother was hurtling down them, swearing as he rubbed at his forehead. Nya sighed. She was surprised his skull hadn’t shattered completely, as Kai had suffered from his fair share of head and body injuries.

“Are they—”

“Five minutes.” she replied quickly, though those measly minutes seemed like hours when Maya and Ray finally emerged from the Rover.

Maya’s skin had tanned from her natural olive tone from being abroad so much, and Ray’s was a shade darker. Nya had her hair from her mum, a swishy long black that was naturally glossy, except Maya’s went past her shoulders and Nya kept hers just above them for convenience. Kai had her dad’s brown hair from when Ray was younger, it was now shocked with salt and pepper gray slowly taking over his own spiky hair.

Nya’s got her eyes from her mum. Maya boasted ocean blue that had almost been replicated in Nya’s, though Nya’s possessed a more stormy blue matching her personality. Of course, Kai took Ray’s dark green, almost brown eyes, which in the right sunlight, looked quite good. Yelch.

“Nya!” squealed Maya, her arms outstretched for a hug. She stepped into her mother’s warm embrace and hugged her back, forgetting all spiteful thoughts.

“Missed you, mum.” she mumbled into Maya’s shoulder, burying her nose into her crisp jacket which was now crumpled.

“Missed you too Nya-Bear.”

Nya smiled at the familiar motherly endearment, and Maya pulled away from her to hold Nya by her shoulders to examine her daughter.

“Your hair is growing out nicely. Are you going to cut it?” Maya brushed the tips of Nya’s hair lovingly. “It looks great either way.”

She shrugged in response, though a smile lit up her face. Then Maya exchanged her for Kai and Nya was being bear hugged by her father. Nya gasped for air but hugged her dad back all the same. 

“Nyaaaa!” rumbled his deep voice. He dug around in his pockets for something and produced a crumpled bellflower, smushed so far one of it’s petals had been ripped off. She hated herself for the frown that replaced her previous grin and Ray laughed heartily. His hand dipped into the other pocket and he revealed something much more in her interest.

Apart from swimming, Nya’s other childhood faded hobby was inventing. Science fair projects were like child’s play to the small things she fiddled with, and she’d stubbornly refused to eat her mac ‘n’ cheese dinner until her little projects were complete. And now - there sat a tiny motor thrumming with power on its own. The big thing was that it was so small, but held so much energy and power. Her grin widened as she took the motor from his outstretched hand and pushed open the door with her foot. A glimmer of her childhood reappeared in her mind, in which she’d imagined a flying ship and pirates and steampunk inventions set her grin even bigger.

Then she remembered  _ why  _ her parents were home. Maya and Ray exchanged a knowing look as Nya kept the door propped open expectantly.

“Kids, it’s time we talk.”

o o o

Awkwardness settled in the living room like a thick suffocating fog. Nya found a hairpin and a twine of string and a loop of metal wire and was playing with her new motor and tools to keep herself from maintaining eye contact. The glass that made up two of the four walls serving as their living room let in warm sunny light that was not quite sleepy yet suggested yawning. Nya was perched stiffly on one of two white couches, the other opposite her and the coffee table was a funny sort of barrier between the Smith parents and siblings. Kai cleared his throat and took a long chug of his energy drink, leaving his water glass untouched. Nya didn’t take hers, and left it with the others standing on coasters.

Her dad finally spoke, loosening the tie around his neck as he did so. “Kai, Nya, you both know how demanding your mother’s and I’s work is.”

Nya kept silent, but returned her brother’s inquisitive glance with one of her own. 

“And it is only getting more chaotic. Our company is getting busier and we are being required to travel even more frequently than we already are.” Maya carried on. It was almost as if her bags had been highlighted by the light. Maya was a beautiful woman, but her tiredness sagged with her. “We also recognise that we aren’t spending enough time with you kids, and you’ve been managing yourselves so well, but Ninjago City isn’t exactly in the centre of our operations. Our boss—”

The water in their glasses was swirling lazily, stirring up a hurricane inside it as her nails dug into her palm.

“—He wants us to move to a more central location. We wouldn’t have to travel so much and you two would be going to school there.” finished Ray, looking nervously at his kids.

The glasses shattered, sending sprays of water and shards of glass everywhere. Cursing, Nya leapt forwards and swept the glass into a napkin, apologising profusely. Ray helped mop up the water dribbling on the coffee table with more napkins. But her mother was sitting still as a statue on the couch, gaping at the shattered glass and freed water. They finally cleaned it up and Nya wrapped the glass in newspaper and chucked it in the bin with a frown. She sat back down, the awkwardness back in full force when she spoke again.

“You want us...to move to a different city...because your boss told you to?” 

Maya sighed. “There is another option.”

Kai appeared to be more interested now.

“We realised that you two need an adult to look after you—”

Kai groaned loudly, but Ray held a finger up to silence him.

“And we’ve already asked Misako if she would come to be your guardian. Our last trip went on for quite a while,”  _ It took four months _ , Nya thought fiercely. “And we hadn’t had time to organise things, so we’d pulled a few strings but they won’t last for long. Misako has agreed, and she and Lloyd,  _ if  _ you decide to stay, will be moving in next Wednesday to make it easier for everyone.”

Nya clenched her fists, hiding them behind a throw pillow. They were leaving them - again - and the precious time they had would be cut short if they didn’t move with them. But if Nya and Kai moved to wherever it was, they’d see their parents so much more. Or they’d be tied up at their office and come home late at night, just like when they were younger.

And they’d be leaving behind their friends, the city, everything. She’d be leaving behind  _ Jay _ , she realised with a start. And with another, she wondered why his name had been the first to come to mind. Jay could be just as optimistic as he was nervous, and he was bumbly but bright. And  _ she _ got bumbly when she was around him. Nya brushed the thought aside and returned to the matter at hand, her cheeks unknowingly flushed. 

“But...when will you be home next?” she asked in a timid voice that she despised. “ _ If  _ we stay.”

“ _ When _ we stay.” growled Kai. “You can’t just ask us to up and go! We’ve lived here our entire lives, and you just ask us to go with you because you think we ‘haven’t spent enough time with each other’? Damn right we haven’t, and it’s because you’re too wrapped up in your bloody accountant work to realise that.”

Nya snapped her eyes to his. “Just shut up for a second and think about it!”

“I’ve thought for long enough.” he lashed back. “You can’t ask us to do that.”

“Nya, Kai, please…” pleaded Maya. But her expression told Nya that she’d been expecting their - Kai’s - hotheaded answer, and was simply clinging onto a string of hope. Nya had to side with her brother for once.

“I have to stay, mum. I can’t leave right now, but maybe you could start coming back more?” Nya suggested weakly.

Ray shook his head though, his face pained. “Work, like we told you, is getting...hectic. But we are working out a schedule and a compromise.”

“I don’t understand how  _ accounting  _ of all things can be time consuming.” interrupted her brother impatiently.

Maya laughed, the first positive thing since the big announcement. “Accounting can be a riveting experience kids, take note.”

Nya failed to keep her laugh in and her sides hurt from the image she projected in her mind of Kai crammed into a box office poring over numbers in a  _ suit  _ of all things.

“So I suppose this means you two are staying in the city then?” Ray gave a shallow sigh and Nya couldn’t help but feel bad. Still she nodded her affirmation and replayed her parent’s words from earlier.

“Misako is coming to be our guardian?” Kai voiced her thoughts.

Maya nodded. “She and Lloyd should be moving in next Wednesday. Misako is a dear friend of mine, and you three kids have grown up together. To take some stress off her, Magda will work full time now.” Maya mentioned their part time maid, well, now full time maid’s name. Nya liked Magda, she was friendly but respected their boundaries.

Nya liked the idea of Misako and Lloyd coming to stay with them. Misako was like a second mother to her, and Lloyd was practically Kai and Nya’s younger brother. Her parents seemed to have something else in store for them again as Ray hopped up from his seat on the couch to leave the house, instructing Emille to ‘Get it ready’?

Nya patiently waited in the less tenuous, more amiable conversation as Maya interrogated Kai on his latest behaviours. The motor’s weight had been eyeballed by hers truly, determining that it was light enough for the two wings of metal wire frame and twine surface could hold it up. There were a few bits and bobs she toyed around with to create a sort of mini helicopter rotor. It had been a long time since she’d worked on something like this - that she truly enjoyed.

When she flipped the minuscule on switch, the metal butterfly sputtered to life, rising a few inches before collapsing. Nya frowned. She hated when something didn’t work and it had been a while dating from her last aerial themed project.  _ Jay can help me _ , she decided finally. Jay occasionally mentioned his own projects, and he was president of the STEAM club at school. She’d been neglecting a lot of her favourites since her parents were travelling.

Her father shut the door with a bang clumsily and almost tripped over the edge of the rug, his arms awkwardly cradling a lump in his Hugo Boss jacket. There was a yip - or was it a yelp? - and Ray mimicked the noise badly to conceal it and Maya face palmed with a sigh of love-laced disappointment. Ray finally got himself straightened as the lump squirmed around more, and her dad cleared his throat.

“Either way, we would have given you this little guy. Your mum and I thought that because you’ve got less- _ ish  _ to do, you and Lloyd might want a fourth friend.

Ray had a tendency for dramatics, and the Smiths knew this so Nya and Kai were excitedly - but warily - drum rolling in anticipation. He opened his jacket triumphantly to reveal a snoozing puppy in the crook of his arm.

“Kids, meet the newest  _ and  _ cutest, Smith family member.”

**_! PLEASE READ THIS A/N IT’S VERY IMPORTANT !_ **

**A/N: sorry for this wattpad users (lowkey feel bad doing it) but @NinjagoFanficAwards is a ninjago contest thingymabob and one of the categories is a ninjago high one. *nervously laughs*. So if you just go check out their book, even like….vote that would be amazing (ongoing books are allowed). I’m not expecting to win (oh definitely not lmao) but it seems pretty cool. Also go check out some stories that get suggested there because ive already found a bunch to read :)**

**i’ve had cole finding his mother’s journal written in my mess of an outline (it consists of two random notebooks, a folder of 7 notes and past me randomly yelling at myself) and I even wrote it ahead of time and the scene now does differs from what it was before. It was much shorter and i didn’t even finish it, and lou was much...nicer?**

**I don’t even know when i planned for the garmadons to move in with the smiths, it just sorta made sense and the three kids have such sibling energy (harhar, yes nya and kai are already siblings), but their dog was a new addition. Iva knew of it beforehand cause I sent her a shot of the bit I was working on and somehow she figured it out (I even coloured over it, terribly apparently). I do have a few names for the puppy, but I wanted you guys to choose his name! You may notice a generalish theme of dragons because i decided that ages ago, but here are the options! Please comment your opinion :)**

**-Draco (dragon)**

**-Angus (excellent strength)**

**-George (who slew the dragon)**

**-Ryu (dragon, loyalty)**

**Personally, i feel ryu is a good choice cause ninjago has a lot japanese influence and ryu is a japanese name. But it’s ultimately up to you guys (any draco stans out there?) so plz comment so i don’t have a mental breakdown trying to decide between draco and ryu (my faves out of the four). And we actually hit 50k words in this chapter (current total is 52,437, with more to come!) this is a really long a/n jeezus shrek. ALSO THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH FOR 2K READS ON WATTPAD AND 1K ON AO3 LMAOOO how >**

**-dommie out**


	26. [24] we would all die for ryu, let's be honest

**pixal**

She called in for a ‘sick’ day on Friday. Pixal was  _ not  _ sick. The reason, laughably, was because she was a robot. 

Curled up in her favourite spot in her room - the hanging chair where Zane had first told her about Evan - Pixal stared at the bowl of soup warming her hands. If she was a robot, where did her food go? How did she sleep? How was her power source running if no Elemental Master had given her it? Ultimately,  _ how _ ? She wanted these answers so badly, but she was equally mad at her dad.

The good thing about living in a ginormous, over hundred floored tower, was that there were many lifts and floors to avoid her father in. Despite her earlier comforting words to her boyfriend, Pixal was shattered inside. Everything she had known, all her ‘childhood’ memories, all of it had been a  _ lie _ . She was living a lie. Her fingers brushed against the knitted fabric of her cream sweater, over the most logical location of her power systems. Even though she hated her father right now, her curiosity was killing her.

Pixal was the cat, robotic or not, and she had to find out. She set the bowl of tomato soup aside, now lukewarm, and hopped out of the chair drawing the cuffs of her sweater up to her wrists as she padded to the private lift in her room. Time to confront her father. Time to get some answers she deserved. Time to find the truth behind those white lies.

On Friday mornings, Cyrus Borg took inventory of his new products going out into Borg Stores the following day for restocks. It was closer to lunch now, and if Pixal judged correctly, he would be holed up tweaking his drawing board of new ideas on his 80th floor. The 80th floor was where most of his harebrained plans were born, slowly adjusted to make more sense and realistic. Pixal’s lift stopped in the lobby of floor 80. She picked her way through a sea of scribbled notes and blueprints, honed on the single sound of pen scratching against paper furiously.

She found him hunched over his desk, legs confined to a wheelchair that had been elevated with another invention of his so he could write comfortably. She stood silent, unsure of what to say as she waited for Borg to notice her presence. When he did, he let out a startled yelp and dropped his pencil.

“P—Pixal! What are you doing here? I thought you were...mad at me?”

“I think I was. But now I just want answers.” she replied shortly, pulling a squat stool out for her to sit on. He blinked twice.

“Oh, of course! Anything you want to know!”

“How did you make me?”

His eyes widened and he tapped twice on the arm of his wheelchair. It lowered him down and he swivelled around to guide himself over to a locked cabinet. It took a scanning of his face, eye, fingerprint and a voice authentication for it to unlock. Gingerly, he retrieved a folder stuffed full of the thin, almost translucent paper he used to design inventions on and rolled back over to the desk. He then shuffled through the papers and selected two labelled  **_P_ ** _ rimary  _ **_I_ ** _ nteractive e _ **_X_ ** _ -ternal  _ **_A_ ** _ ssistant  _ **_L_ ** _ ife-form _ in classic inventor scrawl.

“Here,” he handed Pixal the first sheet. “Your blueprints and diagram, all labelled.”

She took the paper from him delicately and scanned the contents. A drawing of her, a little messy, but it was Pixal mapped out on graph paper. Arrows stuck out of her drawn body, messy scribbles and notes underneath. She’d assumed correctly that her control panel was located in her torso, though there was a side panel located in her lower arm with several switches.

“How did you find my core?”

“Hiroshi’s Labyrinth.” he responded automatically. She gasped in surprise at the name of a legendary location. Hiroshi’s Labyrinth was a thick tangle of jungle, named after the explorer who had cut through it and supposedly found the heart of the jungle.

“There was a myth I was very intrigued in when I began the process of forming your exoskeleton. I knew that I had to find a core for you that would work to my measurements and specifications. The myth dictated that inside the centre of the Labyrinth, there was a jewel. There were few notes on it, but what I found indicated it was a clean, renewable power source. Not enough to power the city or a house, I’m afraid. But enough for  _ you _ .”

He slid the second sheet across the desk, and tapped on the image printed there. A glittering jewel, uncut and radiant in the jungle light cast over it.

“I almost gave up on it, but I had created you in my mind with so much detail I just couldn’t give up. At that point, investors were getting mad at me for not producing new goods for the public, they even threatened to revoke their stocks and stop investing in Borg Industries, but I was so  _ close _ . It took two and half years and forty five scouting missions to pinpoint the exact location, and the extraction had to be done carefully. As I predicted, it was perfect for you.”

He gestured to her chest at tears pricked at her eyes. He’d done everything for her, risked losing investors, profits and everything that he’d worked so hard for just to find her core.

“Have a look for yourself.”

Pixal stepped into the bathroom and peeled off her sweater and shirt, hands shaking as she discarded the tops next to the skin. With the blueprints in her left hand, she found where the magnetic spring release would open her control panel. She pushed lightly on the estimated post and let a soft gasp escape her lips as the panel sprung open. Inside was a neat maze of wires centered around her core, right where her heart should be. It glowed a pale minty green around the outer edge, fading into a pastel lavender focused on the centre.

There were also a few gold plated switches. One was a memory switch, and the other two were unlabelled. Her hand hesitated over the memory switch. Could she forget everything and go back to believing she was human? The thought was swiftly countered by the thought of losing everything she had right now. And forgetting  _ Zane _ . Sweet, caring, her boyfriend Zane who was going through the same turmoil as she was. She closed the panel with a sense of finality and acceptance, allowing a small smile to cross her face.

She’d once said to Zane that you had to go with the flow until you had the power to stop it yourself. She certainly didn’t have the power now, but she was stronger than before. And that’s all she needed really.

**kai**

“I’m sorry, you got us a... _ puppy _ ?” he shrieked. Said puppy yipped at the loud noise and Ray sent Kai an admonishing look. He quietened down reluctantly as the puppy, Ryu, his dad had said, yawned sleepily.

Nya was already cooing over the drowsy puppy in the most un-Nya like way, and his mother had joined in too. Kai spluttered to himself internally, and then the puppy yipped again and slowly opened his eyes, revealing doleful orbs of chocolatey brown and suddenly he was patting Ryu and making cooing noises too.

Ryu wriggled in Ray’s crooked arm, yawning once more and Kai felt himself melt over a tiny  _ puppy _ . The internal battle between  _ it’s just a freaking puppy!  _ and,  _ it’s a freaking puppy!  _ continued as his fingers brushed over silky soft fur, rubbing Ryu on his belly. Ryu responded by nipping at his fingers with tiny teeth that barely grazed over calloused skin.

“What breed is he?” Nya asked, tickling Ryu under his chin much to the tiny puppy’s excitement.

“A Newfoundland pup,” declared Maya with a smile. Ray set Ryu on his feet gently so he could toddle around. “Be warned, he’s going to drool a lot when he gets bigger.”

“Exactly...how big is he going to get?” Kai inquired with a nervous laugh. 

“Pretty big,” Maya admitted. “I used to have a Newfoundland when I was kid, and he got to seventy centimetres tall.”

“Him?” snorted Nya as Ryu wound through their legs inquisitively. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same breed here?”

“Very sure. Newfs can weigh up to seventy kilos when they’re fully grown. This little tyke is gonna get big and  _ very  _ curious once he’s older.” Ray confirmed, scooping Ryu back into his arms again. “Magda is dog proofing the house as we speak.”

Ryu already seemed tired from his short walk and dozed on and off in Ray’s arms as Maya explained further.

“The breeder is a friend of mine, a very responsible lady who takes good care of them. She actually lives near the countryside so the older dogs have more room. Hayley’s been working with dogs her whole life and they absolutely  _ adore  _ her. We were looking at shelter dogs,” Maya paused there, “But Hayley wasn’t sure if she could keep Ryu for much longer. He’s taking a little longer than most of his litter to get up to speed with everything and a lot of those snobby posh people didn’t like how he’s also tadbit on the underweight side.”

“Snobby posh people, eh?” Kai gave an airy laugh, taking a good, emphasised look around the fancy house. “Couldn’t be us.”

Ray shook his head as he stripped off his jacket and let it fall to the floor. “A lot of the clients have their Newfs as prize dogs for competitions or to show off to friends, and Hayley tries her best not to sell to them but they can be quite deceptive. Their thick coats are versatile for cutting and they learn very quickly as they were bred to be fishermen’s dogs since they are quite strong. Of course, Ryu is lighter and a little...”

“Dumber?” Kai offered as said puppy walked smack bang into his ankle with a yelp. He  _ was  _ a bit on the scrawny side now that Kai could compare with a picture on the internet that Nya had brought up.

“That reminds me, I better get the documents for Ryu from the car and get them all in order. How long ago were his vaccinations?” remembered May abruptly, typing out a message, to Emille probably.

“He’s had his first round just last week, so two weeks after that should be his second round. That  _ also  _ reminds me, which vet are we choosing? I thought—”

Kai tuned out the big talk to focus on the puppy that had captured the Smith’s hearts so easily. Ryu had been placed in one of two dog beds that somehow had been magicked up out of the blue. One was a boxier sort, the other a round oval shape. Both were lavishly padded with comfy material, and Ryu ruffed his decision when he trampled around the red oval bed decisively and curled down to snooze once again.

Kai and Nya sat down on either side of the bed, their backs leaning against the sofa as they took turns in placidly stroking Ryu.

“Are you angry with them? For leaving us again?”

Kai’s head snapped around quickly. “I dunno. I guess so.”

“I think I am too. But they’re trying hard, and we probably should too.”

Kai made a grunting sound in his throat, absent-mindedly fondling Ryu’s ears. The puppy stumbled to his feet again and stood out of his bed, circling and pawing at the ground.

Kai cocked his head. “Uhhhh...Nya?”

His sister leapt to her feet. “Idiot! He wants to pee! Hurry, before he does it on Dad’s jacket!”

“Will he actually—RYU STOP!”

**jay**

Jay Walker had a relatively uneventful weekend. His Saturday morning was spent cramming all his homework into one chunk of his weekend so he could game the rest of it. After eating lunch, he’d been pulled away to help his dad with something on a Proton which had creaked into their junkyard late Friday night, then he and Ed had done a final check on the Bullet (the issue had been resolved while Jay was at school unfortunately). Some TikTok demon had possessed him to take another video of the extraordinary car, partially fuelled by Lloyd’s comment on it being a potential moneymaker.

And Jay needed money. He’d checked the Fritz Donnegan game sitting in that room, finding several parts that needed to be replaced. His account had - surprisingly - blown up. He now sat at 15k followers (how, he wasn’t sure) with 2.2 million likes from a single video, and with his comments requesting another video, asking how he got that flickering lighting. 

So all Jay had to figure was how to summon lightning.

Ed and Edna had gone out to the city’s border for a fun karaoke night with some friends, so Jay had the junkyard and the Bullet to himself for one night. Yep, the car of his dreams was being picked up Monday morning. Which meant school. So Jay had tonight (having procrastinated money making the entire weekend) to summon lightning like some human lightning rod.

His first method of research was Google.

Google thought he was trying to summon lightning in  _ Minecraft _ .

Then he found an article that said he needed a big space (junkyard), a storm (there was rain pattering against his window, so that would have to do), some metal (he lived in a junkyard), and to time it right. So Jay stood outside in a yellow raincoat waving an improvised rod and a mason jar normally used for granola with a coil of metal in it hoping to attract some lovely lightning. The storm was fading, and his trusty guide Google told him that was an advisable time period, so he redoubled his efforts, straining short legs to jump up and down.

He could have just filmed the video without it, but Jay was bored, and had gone a long time without an experiment so summoning lightning in his mum’s breakfast granola jar seemed like a good idea. Half an hour in, Jay was ready to give up as his arms felt like lead and rain had leaked through his boots to his thick socks. His back was turned, his grumpy mood amplified by the uncomfortable trickle of cold raid running rivulets down his back.

“COME  _ ON _ YOU BIG UGLY STORM. JUST LIGHTNING—OR SOMETHING!”

His yells got lost with the whipping wind and he turned around, thoroughly disgruntled when a cackle of lightning responded to his demands. Jay’s experiment half worked. He didn’t exactly summon lightning, rather attracted it.

Under his skin, his blood was thrumming with pumping adrenaline and excitement as he hopped from foot to foot, whooping his success loudly. Then he remembered he’d better film, so he crouched at an odd angle and hit the red button. The thing was, if you had a crappy phone like Jay’s you had to work around it. Cleverly, he started the video out with an incomprehensible blur which eventually smoothed out to the final image - not  _ great _ , but the effect was it appeared to be going from bad to best. 

The lightning dipped out of frame for a second, and Jay poked his head up from staring at the rain-splattered screen. His cheeks heated up at the silly thought of what he was going to do next, but it was an already hectic night and Jay had a shot of confidence spiralling through him

“Hey...lightning? If could just just, y’know do your thing—”

It responded quick-flash, webbing down once again just how he’d imagined in his mind. A few shots later, Jay was satisfied with the work and stood up to stretch out all of the awkward cramps and kinks in his aching, cold body. He gathered the materials he used for the experiment though he had a niggling thought in the back of his brain that the article did not do much help at all and something else had beckoned to the lightning.

The storm died down the second he stepped foot in the trailer, and Jay shook himself dry like an over-excited puppy on the doormat, shrugging off the slick outer raincoat to hook it on the side of their fridge. His boots were next, and he peeled off sodden socks with a grimace, tossing them into the laundry to grab a new pair. He touched the back of his palm to his phone, finding it hot so he left it to cool down for a few minutes while he fixed himself a grilled cheese.

Editing didn’t take long as the lightning had done most of the job - and the video was just captioned ‘POV: you find the Bullet in a storm’. He hit post before his confidence could leave and threw his phone into a pile of cushions, notifications firmly  _ off _ . After washing up, he settled down into his bed and picked up his Switch. AKA, his most prized possession. Three years of birthday money saved up from all his friends and family, plus two part time jobs cobbled together enough money for it and a few other games.

He inserted the card for Pokemon Sword and got to playing, his mind heavily off the subject of the Bullet. It was only when he finally noticed that his alarm had been squawking at him for fifteen minutes that it was well past his bedtime. Sleepily, he set his Switch to charge in the tiny area next to his bed and pulled out his phone, revealing notifications flooding his homepage.

Instead of whacking his head into the window, Jay smiled, scrolling through the comments.

**_user87294729:_ ** _ this is so cool!  _ _ ♥  _ [ _ liked by creator _ ]

**_noahbecksneck:_ ** _ omg how did you get this??  _ _ ♥  _ [ _ liked by creator _ ] 

**_avatarthelasteggbender:_ ** _ the lightning is a paid actor change my mind  _ _ ♥  _ [ _ liked by creator _ ]

_ → _ **_superstarrockingwhisp_ ** [creator]:  _ gasp how’d you find out? _

**_pogchamp69:_ ** _ imagine beign frizts donnegn n finding out this kid is makin gbank off youre car  _ ♡

**_dracomalfoyismybf:_** _omggg this is so cool how????_ _♥_ [ _liked by creator_ ]

Some were not the most positive but he found himself replying to the ones he liked and even liked some comments. He switched to Instagram and browsed through his home feed, scrolling past some poem and inventor posts and stopped at Nya’s latest post. It was of a sleeping puppy, a Newfoundland, the caption said, and he was dozing off in the picture. He looked a bit underweight for a puppy, but Jay liked it nevertheless and dm’d Nya.

**jaywalker_:** _ your puppy looks really cute :) _

**nya_smith:** _ lol he is but my dad’s a bit mad with him cause he peed on his hugo boss jacket yesterday _

**jaywalker_:** _ oof for your dad, 1 point to dog _

**nya_smith:** _ can you blame him? The jacket was horrendous. _

Jay was smiling at every  _ damn  _ message, and even though he didn’t know it, an hour away in Ninjago City, Nya Smith was doing the same.

**A/N: positivity??? For once dommie???? Yes lmao idk why but it ended like that. (someone tell my brain to stop using writing as an excuse and to do school work. But also, f school.) i think I estimate next chapter will have elemental related stuff as well. This doc is getting p h a t like bruh. Oooo and ryu did get chosen (votes from AO3 and wattpad ultimately)**

**Reminder for you today! Eat a full meal and drink some water cause your body needs it, i’m afraid. (i too wish i did not require substances to function)**

**And sleep! Yes slep is important.**

**Interesting dommie fact of the week: i used to be able to whistle but now i cannot. What’s something you used to be able to do and now you cant?**

**-dommie out**


	27. [25] and they were roommates (but siblings, idiot)

**astra**

“You don’t need surgery,”

“Lovely,” Astra commented dryly. In truth, it  _ was _ lovely. Doctors and hospitals and anything medicinal freaked her out.

“But you will need a cast and splint for your leg.”

“Lovelier.”

Joker dropped his clipboard to the table with a rattle and rubbed at his temples. “Honestly, how did Troya find you? Kids are insufferable and a blight on this world.”

Astra laughed to herself. Joker worked with adults - or teens borderline adults from the few other patients she had seen stumble in and hated kids with a passion. Obi saw to more of the general practice aspect and Joker specialised in...whatever it was.

“Stop squirming, hold still and don’t complain when I do it.”

“Do what?”

“This.”

“OW! Holy crap dude, what the hell—” There was now an IV connected through her arm, and her eyes were lazily drooping close. “Did you give me like, a sedation med or something?” A rude yawn escaped her mouth.

He ignored her. “Oh no Joker! I can’t do Rea’s leg! You’ll have to do it!” Joker mimicked Obi’s voice poorly in a high pitch imitation of pure annoyance, waving his hands around for extra effect.

“Alright you imp, listen up. I’m going to do what’s called a closed reduction, which means I’ll be applying pressure to get your bone back into place. Don’t give me shit about it hurting because you are on pain  _ and _ sedation meds right now.”

“Cooooooolio.” she flashed him a double thumbs up, and promptly passed out stone cold.

She woke to a not nice throbbing in her lower leg and found herself looking at a slim cast running from her upper thigh down over her foot. It was a lot thinner than what she’d expected and it was that sort of annoying soreness you could push to the back of your mind. Her arms - with what little strength they had - pushed her up in the chair to a more comfortable position. The IV cord pulled along with the movement. 

The door opened and Astra flinched at the loud noise. Luckily, it wasn’t Joker here to complain about kids, rather Obliterate with a familiar clipboard.

“All good?” she asked with a kind smile. Astra nodded, tapping on the cast gently.

“When can I get out of this?”

“So while you were passed out, we took some tests using your blood and whatnot, ran some scans and found that  _ you  _ young lady, have a very interesting immune system. Your innate and adaptive systems work at twice the pace of the average human’s when they use their natural killer cells or antibodies. Because of this, you’ve seen outer evidence that your leg is healing very quickly, which means I’ve estimated your recovery period with the cast  _ on _ should be about...three weeks.”

Her eyebrows rose with surprise and Obi nodded her affirmation. “I only know one person with an immune system that strong and fast, alas I’m afraid I can’t continue my investigation into that. People here get injured far too often for me to have any spare time and Joker is grumpier than ever.  _ Anyways _ , after that you’ll get a brace to go around your knee and then some physio to keep the muscle and ligaments around it strong.”

Astra pursed her lips. “I have school tomorrow…”

Obi laughed heartily. “Oh honey, you’re part of the gang now. I don’t think school is very high up on the priorities of training you.”

“But...maths?” she tried weakly, secretly cheering to herself.

The GP chuckled again. “Destroyer is gonna come talk to you about all that in five minutes. Relax for a sec hon, I just need to give you a quick check up.”

She shone a light into her eyes and checked her vitals, scribbling some things down before leaving Astra alone. Obi’s amiable personality and conversation made Astra more comfortable in such a strange environment, but worry was clawing at her stomach like butterflies, but with really sharp nails. If they had them? Did they? Her brain wandered off on a tangent so she didn’t notice her sister creep in, picking at her nails as she waited for the younger Harlow to acknowledge her presence.

“Rea—”

“Holycrapjeezusshrekwhatthefuck—”

“ _ Now  _ I see why Joker was in such a piss mood when he finished your reduction. You swear far too much.” Before Astra could protest, Cassie waved her hand in a silencing movement. “Take these crutches, we’re going for a walk.”

Troya tossed her a pair of crutches which she fumbled for, her fingers clumsily slipping on the metal. Cassie sighed, loudly, and Astra grumbled to herself as she shifted her leg to hang over the table. The sudden weight was a surprise but she adapted to the change, using the crutches to support herself, swinging with each pace. Her sister held the door of the room open, leading her out into the waiting room where they waved goodbye to Obi.

“You’ve just left Med-Sec and now you’re in the training space, AKA the Arena. Don’t make a smartass comment about that Rea or I’m joining Joker’s anti-kid campaign.” Astra’s mouth clamped shut guilty. They were in a gigantic space with a high roof - it looked like a massive warehouse had been moved underground with big fans, metal rods creating a grid across the ceiling.

“Med-Sec is so close to the Arena because we get hurt a lot in this line of work. We take training here seriously because life and death relies on your muscles, your wit and your reflexes.” Cassie gestured to a bunch of people in similar slim all-black attire to hers flipping and tumbling through an obstacle course set up in a corner of the Arena. The Med-Sec was located in the corner diagonally opposite to the training course - set back into the wall to save space.

“How is this all here?” she gaped like a goldfish, still trying to get a hang on her crutches.

“Catacombs beneath the city,” Cassie placed her hands on her hips, turning back around to look at Astra. “We simply assessed the structure and strength of the walls and excavated where we could work. It’s a fairly new facility.”

Her eyes were scanning Astra thoughtfully, and she becockned for the younger girl to follow her over to a store of sorts, built into the wall just like Med-Sec. Almost like a bar, there was a counter, a few computers out and some papers strewn across it. A black curtain was pulled across to serve as a backing so Astra had no idea what lay behind there.

“This is Tels, or, Tellum, our Weapons Master.”

_ They’re very organised _ . Astra waved a cautious hello to Tellum as he gestured for her to take a step back. He ‘hmmm’ed and ‘ahhhhh’ed a lot. He only spoke to address her leg.

“Hmmmmmm. Your injury is not very useful. How long will you have that cast on for?” His voice was surprisingly high despite all the low humming he did.

“About three weeks, Obi said.” she replied, calling on the doctor’s earlier words. She tipped her head slightly in interest as he disappeared into the back, moving the curtain slightly to slip through the gap. Taking the opportunity, she rounded on Cassie anxiously.

“Troya! What the heck? I thought I was supposed to get my cast and get out of here? Why am I being introduced to a freaking  _ weapons master _ ?”

“Oh, yeah about that,” Cassie swung herself up casually on the counter, sharpening two daggers against each other. “Big man wants you to train...and I honestly think it’s a good idea.”

Astra snorted, stabbing the prodded end of her left crutch at the ground. “Yeah...no” 

“Rea, we have to talk about your fingers going, like, pew-pew when I was about to get backstabbed.” Cassie even did the finger guns half-heartedly. Tellum was still rummaging around the back for something and Astra wished he would hurry up so she wouldn’t stuff up the situation.

“We actually don’t, denial is very healthy.” she countered swiftly, using her crutches to hop around so her back was facing Troya.

Cassie sighed and walked back round, her face steeled into an expression of seriousness. “I’m not joking, yes  _ again _ , I’m saying this because it isn’t a joke. What you can do — what you did, was  _ not  _ normal. Not in a bad way, but...you need to be trained. Also, the Serpentine probably have a hit on you now that they think you’re a SOG spy.”

“That’s a bit rude of them.”

Cassie looked like she wanted to strangle Astra in a sister-dear way.

“Fine.” she relented, shrugging as best as she could whilst holding the crutches. She hadn’t given  _ any _ thought to whatever had burst from her fingertips in that alleyway - her brain was currently clouded by dimmed down pain, lots of surprise and a stream of curses. “I don’t have to go home? Right?”

Cassie nodded, albeit unsurely. “Yeah, we have dorms here.”

She let a slow breath out. Of relief, probably. If there was one thing Astra was good at, it was procrastination. She could procrastinate going home, going to school - then she remembered her friends. Kade, Zander, Annabella, Rema and Zi would notice. Maybe.

“Can I get, like, a deal? Three weeks here, one in school? Just so I can see my friends and stuff?”

Cassie nodded slowly, her fingers racing over the screen of the tiny black device she was carrying around. “I gotta talk to the Lord, sort some things out, but yes, I can do that. Oh, and listen to Tels. The guy’s good with his weapons even if you think it won’t suit you at first. I wanted to use double swords but he was a stubborn donkey, and here I am stabbing people with double sappara.” She tapped the hilts of the two knives she’d been sharpening against each other with a fond smile that almost doubled as maniac. “Of course, they’re a little elongated and slimmer with reinforced—”

“Ooookay, off you go knife nerd.” Astra said dryly, shooing her away with a crutch.  _ These things are useful. Annoying, but useful.  _ “Get Big G onboard.”

Cassie snorted. “I dare you to try call him Big G in person.” Before Astra could reply, Cassie had slipped into some shadows, and then she was gone. Astra blinked a few times to make sure her eyes were working, then turned her attention back to where Tellum was standing behind the counter, now holding some kind of...bow?

“Troya is one of the best here. Trained her in weapons myself.” he said, setting the contraption down on the countertop.

Astra took a page out of his book and ‘hmmm’ed in response, sitting on a high bar stool so her arms could rest. Her left leg was annoyingly clunky with the cast and she had to manoeuvre it slowly and carefully so she could sit properly.

“You’re probably wondering what  _ this _ is.” He pointed to the weapon sitting on the counter and she nodded along. “This is a modified crossbow, made her myself. I had to touch a few things up back there because we need you working with your weapons as fast as possible.”

“Dang.” her fingers ran over the cool metal surface of the crossbow, her admiration showing.

“The draw for your starter bow is significantly less than what your final draw will be. Can’t have you working on a 150 right away. Now, this is where your injury sort of effects your loading. You can either manually draw the bow, or use a crank. The problem with a normal crossbow is that the loading time takes far too long. With a normal bow, you’d have five or six shots off in time you load and shoot a crossbow.”

Her focus was now entirely on the crossbow, attention piqued.

“And here’s where my favourite parts come in.” a smile grew, slightly crazed, but with the fondness Cassie had when she spoke of those sappara thingies. “This crossbow doubles as a normal bow.”

Eyebrows raised, she tried and failed to whistle, impressed. Tellum patted it affectionately, his fingers moving quickly to assemble the parts.

“If you’re far off, the crossbow will provide you with much greater range and power behind the shots. Closer, you move the parts like so—” He finished moving everything again, back between crossbow and bow. “And boom. You have a bow. Not a traditional one of course, but tomorrow we’ll delve into the specifics. Just wanted to show her off.”

Astra smiled, already attached to the bow.  _ I’m attached to a bow? _ Thought dismissed, she thanked Tellum and shuffled off the chair with the help of her crutches in the direction of the dorm he’d pointed her way to. Head pounding with every new surprise that had come her way, Astra set off on her crutches with purpose - and a broken knee.

**lloyd**

He yanked down a bag from the top of his cupboard and yowled in surprise as it toppled down onto his head.

“Ow!” he grumbled, massaging the top of his head with a foul grimace of pain. He  _ hated  _ packing. Packing was not a Lloyd thing. Opening a back he found himself staring at a massive stack of comics higgledy-piggledy shoved inside. Distracted, he started flicking through an old issue of  _ The Amazing Spider-Man _ and got lost in the plot.

“Lloyd!” yelled his mother from the door. Immediately, he threw the comic over his head and pretended to be buried in the exciting activity of packing.

“Here!” he responded belatedly, just as his door creaked open.

Misako chuckled and bent down to help him sort through a few things. She took a good look around his room and nodded proudly. “Nice job Lloyd.”

He smiled in response, continuing to pack on autopilot. “You kinda just sprung this whole we’re moving thing on me...where exactly are we moving to?”

“I think you’ll find out at school tomorrow.” she brushed his fringe out of his eyes and jerked her head towards the kitchen. “Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.”

He nodded mutely, watching her back retreat into the hallway, utterly confused. Why would he find out at school? How come his dad had just dipped after his short visit, not even a goodbye? Suddenly packing seemed a good idea to take his mind off everything and his frown deepened as he found things that he didn’t even know he owned.

Sleep was welcome as his exhaustion took control, and Lloyd flopped into bed contentedly, snoring before his head hit the pillow. When he woke, his alarm clock was screaming at him and he muttered an altered curse under his breath as he scurried to get ready for school. His mum would have left for the museum already, leaving behind a just-warm plate of eggs and toast which he inhaled before legging it out of the door.

“LLOYD!” yelled Nya and Kai in unison the second he stepped off the bus.

“SMITHS?” he cried back confusedly.

“You’recomingtostaywithus!” Nya rambled in true Jay spirit.

“Slow down.” huffed Kai, shrugging his Dragons jacket on.

“You’re.  _ Coming _ . To  _ Stayy _ . With.  _ Uss _ .” she tried again with a cheeky grin.

Lloyd’s eyebrows raised at her mood - considerably happier than last week, but surprise took over and he actually wheezed in laughter.

“No way! My mum was just being cryptic and telling me ‘I’d find out at school tomorrow’. Wait, why are we coming to live with you?”

“Our parents are getting busier with work and they figured we needed a guardian, and turns out it’s Misako. Which means you’re coming along, of course.” Nya explained as Kai rolled his eyes at ‘guardian’.

“That’s so cool.” he cheered as they rummaged through their lockers. “Imagine all the video games we can play, and you guys can fund my comic and sweet addiction, and we can—”

“Slow down there motormouth,” Kai joked.

“Hey! I thought I was motormouth?” exclaimed Jay indignantly just as he turned the corner.

Lloyd’s eyebrows entered his hairline. Suddenly, everyone was a chirpy bundle of happiness today? Not complaining from the recent grumbly mood that had been thrown over them, Lloyd closed his locker and went on his phone.

**harumi.brassard wants to send you a message**

Lloyd groaned, squinting so his eyes were practically closed as if that would rid him of that notification. He opened one eye. Nope, still there. When he looked up again all his friends had left for homeroom and he launched into a sprint with an exasperated sigh. He made it to homeroom with two minutes to spare - and thirty seconds to spare as a familiar voice told him.

“Zane! You’re back!” he let his bag fall to the floor and brought out sufficient doodling materials to keep him distracted.

His friend nodded absentmindedly. “Yes, I am back.” Zane’s eyes turned down to his notebook where a rough drawing of Zane was laid out in pencil. There were gears and switches and wires in certain uncovered areas, and Zane frowned as he drew arrows out of each part. Lloyd had a feeling that he wasn’t supposed to see that, so he averted his eyes and continued his attempts to draw. It was from one of his dreams, that type of epic adventurous dream that seemed to be real when you were experiencing it, sending shivers down your spine when you thought back to it.

It was of Ninjago City, upsettingly gloomy whilst rain poured down from above. His cheap ballpoint pen moved quickly over the corner of his maths worksheet in steady strokes, pausing to check it from a different angle. He snuck a look at Zane’s drawing while homeroom droned on, and his friend was still staring at the paper. The only one of their friends who still seemed down.

While Zane’s art style was punctuated, deliberate drawing, Lloyd’s was messy, unpredictable and changed with every drawing he did. Admittedly, this rough sketch was one of his favourite pieces. Sometimes ballpoint pens and maths homework came in clutch.

Homeroom was over in a flash, and Zane left the classroom quicker than anyone heading for the bathroom after eating Cole’s cooking. He chanced a look back at his phone, his gaze lingering at the notification.

“Oh, what the hell.”

He clicked accept, and moved for his next class.

Monday passed by swimmingly - at least the better half of the day, up until lunch when he sat at their table again - Pixal and Zane were here, but both refused to speak. Jay took up the mantle of keeping the conversation alive, Nya and Lloyd occasionally butting in. Skylor was fixed at the popular table, rigid and stiff but seeming to enjoy herself. She also looked...different? Lloyd couldn’t really tell but it looked like she was wearing makeup.

**notification from harumi.brassard**

His fingers swiped up before his brain could yell protest at him. Her first message had been:  _ hi lloyd _ , and the second,  _ wrong person, sorry _

**lloyd_g:** _ i’m literally the only lloyd in the school _

**harumi.brassard:** _no i meant another lloyd_

**lloyd_g:** _ okay, what’s his last name? _

**harumi.brassard:** _...garmadon?_

**lloyd_g:** _ cut to the chase harumi, why are you talking to me? _

**harumi.brassard:** _ouch. can’t i talk to people?_

**lloyd_g:** _ you’ve ignored me for most of highschool, why is that changing now? _

**harumi.brassard:** _because...you’re cute?_

He let out a loud splutter of pure shock and laughter that startled Jay into a flap, his friend’s milk cartoon flipping up wildly into the air and landing spout-down and splattered milk everywhere. His green hoodie was stained pale with the milk, droplets hanging off his eyelashes. He leapt up to mop up the mess, scrubbing at his shirt and face. His eyes caught Harumi’s from across the cafeteria. She was holding her phone with a genuine smirk, looking as if she was choking back a laugh. Nya dragged Jay to grab from napkins leaving the only couple left for him to third wheel awkwardly. Glancing back down at his phone, he saw he had a new message.

**harumi.brassard:** _very graceful_

**lloyd_g:** _ thank you _

**harumi.brassard:** _ill see you around garmadon._

**harumi.brassard is now offline**

His hoodie was still damp from the milk and smelled weird, so he took it off and stuffed it into his backpack leaving him in a white shirt. Jay and Nya finally came back from the bathroom, eagerly chatting about something the latter had in her hands. Jay reached across to fiddle with it and Nya’s cheeks blushed the faintest pink you wouldn’t even have seen if you didn’t know to look for it. And Lloyd did, considering he knew about Jay’s crush.

About to exit the app, Lloyd’s thumb hovered over the home button when a notification slid down.

**unknown number has added you to a group chat with known contacts: kai the fry, punchy girl, music man, brains of the operation, pixxxal, i am a bad (bleep)..., and noodle lady**

**unknown number:** _ your presence in required at the principal’s office in five minutes _

_ i am a bad (bleep) addison rae changed their name to  _ **_mrbulletcar_ **

**mrbulletcar:** _ STRANGER DANGER I REPEAT STRANGER DANGER _

**mrbulletcar had left the conversation**

**unknown number has added mrbulletcar to unnamed group chat**

**music man:** _ who are you _

**unknown number:** _ you have three minutes to be at the principal’s office _

**Me:** _ uh, who are you? _

**unknown number:** _ two minutes and twenty three seconds _

**kai the fry:** _ lets get this over and done with _

**unknown number:** _ two minutes and seven seconds _

It was amazing how the panic snapped his head up so fast he heard his neck crack, all eight of teens making nervous eye contact from across the cafeteria. Nya stood up first and left indiscreetly, Lloyd and Jay following as the bell rang for next class. Another buzz from the pocket of his pants. The distinct feeling of  _ I should not be doing this  _ thudded with every heartbeat frenzied by panic.

**unknown number:** _ one minute and thirty three seconds _

_ Shit. _

**A/N: im so hungry writing this and probably will be when posting this. ALRIGHT I THOUGHT I WOULD GET THERE QUICKER BUT NEXT CHAPTER WILL HAVE** **_ACTION_ ** **OF SORT. this is up to what i have planned which means i have to start my random jumble of planning again** **_y a y_ ** **. This a freaking fat chapter, the acutal writing being 3.5k words. Someone tell me to stop using curse words as cliffhangers please. *insert montage of me writing* yes.**

**I did post a double chapter today because I’ve gotten quite a bit ahead and i felt like it. I’m actually starting a new school in a couple of weeks which is nerve wrecking because i don’t intend on speaking to anyone but the school is big on group things. So eugheuganubfnw.**

**-dommie out**


	28. [26] you're boomerist, kid

**skylor**

Assuming they weren’t about to be kidnapped, murdered or enslaved upon reaching the principal’s office, Skylor wasn’t too worried. She excused herself gently, prising her arm from Liam’s grip and pecking him on the cheek as goodbye.

Yes, Liam, her boyfriend of two dates. It had happened so fast after their movie on Sunday night -  _ again _ Harumi had helped her with makeup and clothes and she found herself slightly enjoying being pampered and dressing up. It wasn’t like they were getting married but Liam’s odd possessiveness was getting on her nerves. 

When she’d left the table and Kai had followed, Liam had jumped up with a glare in his eyes. Chad told him to calm down and sit back down and Skylor left, dragging her fingers through a tangle in her pin-straight hair, courtesy of a hair straightener. Normally wavy, it felt a lot lighter bouncing on her shoulders as she hurried to the office. 

Kai’s footsteps echoed hers as they passed by the library and their lockers on the way there. Tugging at the uncomfortable tube top she was wearing, Skylor paused to check her reflection in the glassy reflection. A touch up of mascara and a swipe of lip gloss completed the natural look Harumi insisted suited her. And speaking of the mayor’s daughter, Skylor wasn’t sure if she knew what her opinion on Harumi was.

She’d been nice for the week Skylor had been spending more time with her, giving her advice on Liam, how to act and dress now she was friends with them. Her tangent of thoughts stopped when she arrived at the office. Nya, Jay, Lloyd, Pixal and Zane were already there. Cole showed up just as her phone buzzed with a five second warning, breathless and a... _ Ninjago High Dance Team _ bag slung over his shoulder?

“Does anyone know why we’re here?” she said finally, cutting the awkwardness.

Everyone shrugged simultaneously just as the next notification pinged from all of their phones.

**unknown number:** _ come in _

It was a cowardly moment in which all eight of them looked to a different person in hopes that they would dare to turn the knob. It ended up being Pixal who took one for the team, opening the door as the others waited in a huddle behind her. All they found was Principal Wu sitting behind his desk, a wise smile turning to bemused as their expressions.

“Come in, come in.” Skylor shuffled in behind Cole, toying with the tips of her hair anxiously.

“I’m sorry,  _ you’re _ unknown number?” spluttered Jay.

“Yes?” Wu said, confused. “Did you not expect it to be me?”

Jay scrambled for words. “Well, I just uh, I didn’t think that someone as...”

“Old, as you, could.” Kai supplied, and Skylor resisted the urge to whack him over the head. Wu didn’t seem peeved and only poured himself a steaming cup of tea.

The eight of them fidgeted on the spot restlessly as Wu finished his tea. Skylor was watching the clock, and they’d just passed fifteen minutes into the class they should have been in. Wu prepared another cup for himself, setting the blue teapot down and stirring the matching teacup. His desk was immaculately organised. Exactly three pens in the cup holder, the few papers stacked neatly and an ancient computer took up one corner. A small potted bonsai tree provided the pop of colour against the oak desk, accompanied by a forest green armchair.

Wu picked up a sheet, scanned it, and then put it down with a frown. Clasping his hands together, he finally diverted his attention back to them.

“I can safely assume that you are all wondering why you are here.” His eyes scanned the room and Skylor wondered if the room had dropped a few degrees as a chill struck her back, forcing her upright. “Some of you may already know.” His gaze landed on Cole and Zane. Both remained stoic, but something flickered across Cole’s features.

“Ninjago was created by pure balance. Darkness - and light. Perfectly balanced, as it should be. If power was tipped too much in one direction, chaos would ensure. The creator of this world knew this all too well. For every bad, there was good. Therefore, he had the idea to train protectors of the land in order to combat the evil. But evil always has some hidden edge, so he gifted them with powers beyond what any could dream of. Powers that if not controlled and harnessed properly, could destroy Ninjago itself.”

Skylor didn’t know why he was telling them this. Maybe he was subbing in for the history teacher that had quit a few days ago? Cole and Zane had gone deathly quiet, the rest either plain confused or staring at Wu in disbelief.

“The man who did all of this was my father.”

_ No way _ . Was - that meant he was dead. But Ninjago had been created thousands upon thousands of years ago? What Wu had said was simply a watered-down version of what they learned in History, even bedtime stories, minus the part about the powers. It made no sense how he, how  _ Wu _ could have lived this long.

“And those who he gifted the powers to were called Elemental Masters.” Cole openly squeaked, throwing his hands up to cover his mouth in surprise and Zane tensed noticeably. Pixal, as well, did not look shocked. Only Kai, Jay, Nya, Lloyd and Skylor were a mix of confusion and curiosity. “Wielding the elements of creation, the core four. Earth, Fire, Lightning, and Ice.”

Cole slumped against the wall, rubbing at his eyes. Zane just remained impassive, though his fingers were twined with Pixal’s. “These powers were passed down, gifted to new masters to train and master them. The previous masters were all your parents.”

“You’re  _ joking _ .” Kai laughed hysterically. “My parents are accountants.  _ Accountants _ !”

“Seriously, there’s no way my dad has an elemental power. He would have found a way to integrate it with noodles and make bank off it.” she agreed, scoffing internally at the idea. It was a brief moment of agreement as she and Kai raised their eyebrows at each other mockingly.

“Pretty sure my parents don’t have them either. Like, can you imagine them with powers?” Jay laughed.

Wu repeated his bemused, all-knowing smile. “Has anything happened to you recently? Things you can’t explain, dreams that make no sense?”

Nya gulped, looking at her hands then to the jug of water on the side table next to the door. Cole dug around in his pockets for something and produced a handful of jagged rocks, Zane brought his foot up to stare at the sole of his shoe and Jay was frantically unlocking his phone to go to...TikTok? Lloyd’s face was still scrunched up in uncertainty and disbelief, and Skylor’s expression echoed his.

“So, you’re saying our parents passed these elemental thingamajiggies to us?” Jay chuckled again, a hint of hysteria there.

“Where you get your elemental powers from is not information I am willing to disclose to you just yet. It is important that you  _ understand  _ them first before you question their history. It might be genetics, gifted to you, or simply destiny. If you do not believe me, I have the proof to show you that you do possess these powers.”

“Uncle, this doesn’t make  _ any  _ sense.”

“Nothing makes sense, Lloyd.”

Said Garmadon groaned at the cryptic words.

“He’s telling the truth!” insisted Cole out of the blue.

“I can confirm that. Principal Wu is telling the truth.” Zane backed Cole up, each balking at each other in surprise.

“Alright, alright, say we  _ do  _ have these powers. What do we do with them?” Kai theorised, glancing at his sister protectively.

“You train with them. Master the art of Spinjitzu, discover abilities, unlock your True Potential, and most importantly,  _ protect  _ Ninjago.”

“Show us,” Skylor blurted out. “Give us proof.” The others nodded in stern agreement, but Cole and Zane were still proclaiming the truth, sildling over to Wu.

“Look. Here’s proof.” Cole stamped his foot, hard, down on the carpeted floor. Skylor blinked to make sure her eyes were working, because by his foot was a heap of pebbles, all shapes and sizes. 

Zane nodded, his ice blue eyes sharpening in his gaze. “As I can demonstrate,” He simply walked around the room, leaving behind a trail of ice shaped in the exact size and shape of the soles of his shoes.

Wu spread his hands inquisitively towards Skylor and the rest of them. “I would demonstrate my own elemental powers, alas, Creation requires a bit more room.”

Her thoughts were incredibly muddled, mushing together as three certain feelings - excitement, concern for Zane, Cole, and Wu’s mental health, and pure astonishment.

“You can’t possibly train us all,” scoffed Kai disbelievingly. “We don’t even know our powers, and I don’t think  _ Creation  _ is going to help us.”

“You are right,” Wu tipped his head in affirmation. “I cannot teach you all. But I can help you start your journeys, and from there I will guide you as you learn from each other, from yourselves and from history.” Wu smiled reverently, tugging on the fine ends of his beard before turning around and placing his palm against an empty wooden wall.

“What—”

“ _ Shut up _ .”

Wu stepped back after a second, watching his students with amused eyes as they gasped in wonderment. A hidden panel slid aside, revealing a chest sitting in a hollowed out square built into the wall. Wu placed the chest on his desk, his fingers hovering over the lock, his eyes filled with pain. A brush of his element, a wisp of golden power unlocked the chest, revealing seven slim books standing on their spines.

“These are the Elemental Archives. Personal diaries containing notes, advice and more written by previous elemental masters with the sole purpose of teaching future wielders. You shall continue to do so whilst you train for the future. The Archives will assist you with your training in aspects of your Elements that I cannot teach you.”

He drew the first of the books out and looked to Zane. “Zane, the Master of Ice,”

“Jay, Master of Lightning.” Walker’s mouth fell open in surprise, but he accepted the book.

The next book had a flame on it. “The Master of Fire, Kai.”

“And the final of the core, the Master of Earth, Cole.” Cole took the book, frowning at it with a not-so sneaky glance to his dance team duffel bag.

“Nya, the Master of Water.” Nya’s expression revealed nothing, only a flash of knowing and hesitance as she took the book.

“Skylor, Master of Amber.” The book was cold in her hands but she felt drawn to it, connected even.  _ What is Amber? _

“And Lloyd, Master of Energy.” Lloyd stared at the book for a few seconds then gingerly took it from his uncle.

“There are many other elemental masters, but these are some of the highest tiers of the hierarchy. If you wish to train these powers, next Monday I am organising a,  _ ahem _ , a field trip of sorts to a place where I can teach and mentor you, a crash course, of some kind, for two weeks.” 

The group looked at each other sceptically, and surprisingly, it was Lloyd who voiced their silent decision.

“We’ll get back to you on that by…Thursday?”

Wu dipped his head benevolently. “As you wish. Back to class you go.” They shuffled out of the door in silence, gobsmacked, awed silence when Wu called back “Pixal, may I have a word with you quickly?”

Skylor’s friend looked at them, obviously on the edge, but still she ducked into the office. “You guys go on. Really.”

They set off in a gaggle, slow dragged footsteps as Skylor’s head hurt from all the questions bouncing around. Cole slipped off soon after, offering no explanation. Zane said he would hang back for Pixal and Skylor and Nya offered to wait with him, but he shooed them away adamantly.

Her fingers brushed against the book in her bag, a hint of a smile growing on her face.

_ Amber. Sounds cool. _

**cole**

Huddled in a bathroom stall, Cole looked to each of his hands in disbelief. In his right was his mother’s diary, and on the left was the book Wu had given him.

The problem?

They were identical.

In, shape, size, design and colour, they looked exactly the same from the outside. He turned both books over to examine the backs, finding them the exact same material. The only way he would be able to differentiate them would be their contents. He opened the covers on both, the script on the fire page in messy handwriting that mirrored his own. The personalisation lines were filled. For his mother’s, scrawled in was  _ Lily _ , and for the other,  _ Archive of Earth _ was penned in.

**_Lily’s Diary, Entry One_ **

_ Sometimes I wonder if elemental powers are truly a gift. It is a blessing to have the ability to wield these powers, all of us are wary but it’s so enchanting, being able to truly access our powers. He says our True Potentials will come someday, during the Serpentine Wars perhaps, maybe even earlier, in which we can make a difference. It surprises me how accurate our elements are to our personalities, though some are polar opposites, a testament to destiny perhaps. He refuses to tell us the origin of our powers, how we came to have them. _

_ Some of the other others are sceptical, and I must say I agree. He has been alive for long enough, his training is far more advanced and he has centuries on his side. Neither of my parents, as one theory suggests, has the power of Earth. Maybe a higher power is deciding this. Nevertheless, Earth is stable, patient and listening. It responds to my every thought immediately. Earth is calming and steady, a rock for everyone to lean on. Everyone always assumes Fire, Lightning or Ice to be the most dangerous. To be burnt, suffer from frostbite, be shocked alive, Earth remains unassuming amongst things. Maybe that’s why it's just as, possibly even more dangerous than the others. While it is patient, it is unrelenting, dangerous, slow yet swift in action. It takes years to wear it down, it stands tall and confident. _

_ Of course, we are still learning. The Elemental Archives offer much more information than you’d think. Such a thin book seems to be endless, page after page of different handwriting, views and opinions on the element of Earth. I found this spare Earth journal in the storage of the monastery. I don’t know why I have started this journal. I suppose I wanted something more personal to keep my thoughts in, the Archive of Earth is directed for learning. _

_ -Lily _

**_Archive of Earth, Entry One, Adira_ **

_ These pages are to be filled with information about your, our power, mastery of Earth. My name is Adira, and I have been chosen by the First Spinjitzu Master to use the element of Earth. I must admit it was a slightly painful process, well, more annoying than painful. A tingly feeling overcame my body, and my hands and feet went numb for over an hour. Poino assured me it was okay and the process had been the same for Calla and her fire. Lixue went shortly after me and turned a pale colour, his ice I’m assuming, is to blame for that. Darian was rather whiny about the process of having our powers implemented. Hypocritical, considering he was the first and most eager to have an element. _

_ He says we are to be the first of many masters, which is why the Archives are to be created. As we learn about our element and train to use them, we are supposed to write down tips and advice, even lessons or exercises for future users of Earth. How they will receive our powers in yet another unanswered question, but in the meantime I offer this advice to you: _

_ No matter the time you are in, darkness and light  _ **_must_ ** _ always be balanced. That is the way things are, the way of life. For each good thing there is bad, and vice versa. Therefore, that applies to you. For the good of your power, for the light you strive for - there will always be a lurking evil to counter that. _

_ I hope to offer you, future users, more advice on your element as time passes. _

_ -Adira _

His mother had written in that spare diary. Wu was speaking the truth. His mother had been the elemental master of Earth. And Adira, the first ever wielder of Earth had written in the pages of the Earth Archive. Slowly, Cole drew his thoughts out of the two books, shutting them and hiding them in the depths of his bag. His Ninjago High Dance Team bag.

Yes, Cole was now a dancer. It must have been some sort of funny joke that had been pulled on him, there was no  _ way  _ in hell that he was a good dancer. He tripped over his own feet and pure air eight times during the audition, but the dance teacher insisted he had potential.  _ Yeah right _ , he spat in his mind as he exited the bathroom for the last class of the day.

He was going to be teased mercilessly for this because the official team list would go up by the end of the week, and Cole needed an escape from the two effects of that. His schoolmates ridiculing him, and his father’s pride. Then his brain landed on the perfect solution for that - the trip Wu had offered them. Two weeks for everything to die down, two weeks for him to sort out his life, two weeks to try and get a grip on his powers so he wouldn’t make a fool of himself by accidentally summoning and tripping over a boulder.

Wondering if anyone else had decided to take up Wu’s offer, Cole almost texted the group chat and stared at the blinking cursor, his brain in turmoil. Turning the corner to a deserted corridor, he let out a quiet, strangled sound from his throat. Standing in the shadows were Pixal and Zane - the former must have finished talking to Wu. That was not the surprising thing.

The surprise was that Pixal’s stomach was exposed, a  _ panel _ sprung free to reveal wires and a glowing light where her heart should be. He shifted ever-so quietly and his eyes widened as he saw Zane reflecting her, his stomach a mesh of tech and cables. His feet moved him out of the darkness into the light on autopilot, feeding off the shock.

“What the fu—”

**A/N: hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Did i just make myself start making an elemental system? Yes, because i figured id need one. How they worked and stuff, ancestors and so on, so that’s actually gonna be pretty fun. Ninjago hasn’t gone too much into what I want to explore so i can play around a bit :) boom. As for the finer details of their powers, that’s to be worked out (e.g the extent of skylor’s powers cause she’s pretty op) ooo and ! Cole knows Zane and Pixal are robots!**

***gasp of no shock because i wrote that lmao* also!powers!revealed! Questions? Queries? Qualms? No siree i did not end the chapter on another swear because cole never actually finished saying it (loopholes kids, always remember that). Anyways, i’ve begun planning mos out a lot further now to give me more of an idea and security, even a timeline (which might fail but hopefully won't), villains motives, deaths (ignore that) and so on! Posting this chapter a bit early cause im heading out with my mum. Starting new school in a week so wish me luck lmao!**

**chile, anyways,**

**-dommie out**


	29. [27] multiverse shenanigans (jk)

**lloyd**

Lloyd and Misako moved into the Smith’s house earlier than anticipated, Tuesday afternoon after school. Not that there was much to move into the borderline mansion house, but Lloyd was eager to get it done and over with so they could discuss the many  _ issues  _ that had been coming up. Monday afternoon was taken up with homework, studying, packing and getting ready. The Archive of Energy laid untouched at the bottom of his school bag until he’d been nagged by his mother into sorting through it Tuesday night.

His room in his old house was about the size of his bathroom here. And it was en suite. Sure, he’d visited the Smith’s plenty over the years but he’d never really gotten used to the thousands of rooms that seemed to spring up every way you looked. Like all the other bedrooms, his was on the second floor, second down the hallway between Nya and Kai’s.

Even though he definitely felt like the younger sibling (honestly, the amount of hair ruffling was insane), Lloyd was quite enjoying his new life. School wasn’t that far away, only a five minute walk, ten if Kai was fixing his hair on the go, Magda was very nice to him and made really good dinners when Misako was out, and having Kai and Nya  _ and  _ Ryu to keep him company was cool.

Speaking of the devilish dog, his small size did not put a damper on his shoe-chewing abilities which was a time-driven endeavour because his tiny teeth had to work through the shoe as fast as possible, which wasn’t that fast at all. Not to mention Ryu was a bit...dumb. They all had to be ready to pick him up and redirect him in another direction like one of those robot vacuum cleaners so he wouldn’t bash into furniture.

He had his bowl topped up three times a day for his meals, fresh water always on hand because although he looked like a tiny runt, Ray was sure he’d grow way bigger. Lloyd thought otherwise, maybe taller but from pictures he’d seen, not as...wide? Ryu hadn’t been in the big, wide world yet, only traipsing around the backyard in safety. Potty training was another activity, one that Lloyd wasn’t all that excited to help with.

Now it was Wednesday afternoon and Lloyd was sitting at the kitchen counter with Kai and Nya eating bowls of ice cream heavily topped with all kinds of lollies and chocolate syrup in amicable silence. His was sprinkled liberally with gummy bears, sprinkles and other candies all mixed into the mush. With no other adults around, except for Magda, who didn’t really count (Ray and Maya had left earlier that morning for their work and Misako was at work) so they were free to go wild.

“So...have any of you given thought to the Archive thingies?”

“Whast?” Kai said through a mouthful of ice cream. He swallowed, burped, then answered. “Oh. Them.”

Nya straightened a bit on her bar stool. “I have, actually. The Water Archive is very...interesting.”

“Not to mention dad’s in the book of Fire.” Kai snorted.

Lloyd glanced at his school bag where he knew the Energy journal was hidden. Eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he took the book out, sliding it into the middle of the counter. 

“I haven’t actually opened mine yet.” he said carefully, watching the two Smith’s interest pique.

“Well go on, do you want me to grow a beard while we wait?” Kai ordered impatiently, still shovelling in ice cream.

With a sigh, Lloyd’s fingers tapped against the cover in anticipation before finally flipping open to the first page. The personalisation lines were empty. He frowned, then flipped to the next page.  _ Empty _ . And the next.  _ Empty _ . Ten pages after that, all  _ empty _ .

“What the hell,” he breathed, partially to himself but loud enough for Kai and Nya to hear. “Your books aren’t empty, right?”

Nya shook her head, bringing the Water book out to open the first few pages. “Look, here, the first Master of Water. Evian.”

“Like the water brand?” Nya raised her spoon threateningly and Lloyd shut up instantly.

“Where’s yours?” directed at Kai, Nya’s question prompted a dash up the stairs. Five minutes later, Kai returned with the Fire book stuffed into his pocket.

“Right, uh...Calla. First Master of Fire.” Kai jabbed a finger at the very first entry. 

The three books were lined up next to each other, all open to the first pages leaving it very clear that there had been plenty of Fire and Water Masters, yet no trace of Energy. If there even had been one before him. The idea stayed with Lloyd, the possibility becoming clearer as his thoughts jumbled together.

“I’m going on that trip. I need answers.” he snapped his book close and dropped it into his bag, nodding to himself.

Kai and Nya shared a look, that way siblings have. “We’re coming with you. We need answers on our parents.”

Lloyd’s smile was spreading before he realised it. “Two weeks in who knows where, learning how to control these ‘powers’? Sounds fan- _ tas _ -tic.”

o o o

Thus came Thursday morning when Lloyd, Kai and Nya were ready to go to Wu’s office to accept his offer. As far as Lloyd knew, none of his other friends were coming. A tentative, touchy topic, it had been well avoided at lunch and it was almost as if that encounter had never happened at all. But even then, Lloyd had become more aware since Monday’s meeting of those little signs. Cole was constantly crouching to pick up those rocks or kicking at them with his foot, Zane seemed reluctant to walk anywhere in case ice would follow him, in Science when their classes joined, Kai played with the bunsen burner’s hottest flame like it was nothing. After school everyday Nya would swim laps up and down the Smith’s pool without tiring, and, well...Lloyd and Skylor showed no signs of having any powers.

Pixal hadn’t revealed anything about her talk with Principal Wu, but Lloyd reckoned he might be able to get it out of Cole because his friend was always glancing at Pixal and Zane, shaking his head and looking away. Maybe Cole had overheard them. All three of them were in different homerooms so they organised a time to excuse themselves so they could leave. In fact, Zane asked to go straight after Lloyd’s request, both being approved, they set off for the office in awkward tension.

“So, uh, you going on that trip with uncl—sorry, Principal Wu?”

“Yes, I am. I needed some time away from Evan...and my father.”

“Oh. Why?” Lloyd asked as they began to turn the corner.

“I am a robot.”

He walked into a wall.

Dazed, and now somehow on the floor, Lloyd’s forehead was pounding with a shooting pain that slowly ebbed away in a mild all-round sore.

Sucking a sharp breath in, he blinked a few times so his vision would stop swimming like he’d been tossed into a laundry’s tumbler. “I’m sorry, you’re a  _ what _ ?”

“Apologies Lloyd, I have been looking at my settings and I must have altered something unintentionally. Please remain seated, and have some water.

From the corner of his view, he saw Zane pass him a bottle of unopened water. Twisting the cap off, he took a long chug and focused on everything but the throb in his head. He opened his mouth to inquire further on Zane’s...being a robot, but his mouth hung open as Zane’s arm had somehow opened up? A compartment of sorts, set into his left arm that he was fiddling with.

“Dude...did I just fall into a multiverse or can you explain  _ that _ ?”

Zane turned around and helped Lloyd stand to his feet on shaky legs. Lloyd almost toppled over again and put his hand up against the wall to steady him.

“To answer your question Lloyd, last week my father revealed that I am an android, or a droid. Whichever term you prefer, they both mean the same. I am indeed made out of metal.” There Zane took in a breath, closing the panel in his arm. “Many inventors have tried time and time again to create a self sustaining android like myself with it’s own portable power source.”

“O-okay…” Lloyd said slowly, trying to piece everything together through a foggy mindset.

“The answer to that, for me, at least was an Elemental Master. The Master of Ice came by my father and, did... _ something _ , a core of sorts that is equal to your heart that allows me to function.” Zane sounded incredibly frustrated talking about the Ice Master as they resumed a sluggish walk. “I believe Wu will have more answers and I intend to find out more about the predecessor of my power.”

“You seem...different?” Lloyd cocked his head, remembering how altered Zane’s behaviour had been all week.

Zane nodded, “I found it somewhat unfair that my father chose all of my settings. Of course, he couldn’t know what I would want that early and he chose what he thought I would like. At least, what would make me normal. I realise that nothing about me is remotely normal so the least I could do is to choose myself.”

“Hmmmmm.” Lloyd finally said. “You seem a lot more...brutal in your honesty.”

Zane’s eyes sharped on his as they paused outside Wu’s door. Kai and Nya must already be inside. “From what I have observed, knowing I am not...human, is that you are ruthless in lying to gain what you must. I thought it would be interesting to do the exact opposite.”

Lloyd noted how different Zane had become - good or bad, time would tell, but how he’d become somewhat distanced, using ‘you’, a strange acceptance of being an android. Lloyd was still trying to wrap his mind around it, but Wu called for them to come inside. Lloyd’s head nearly started spinning again when he spotted the rest of his friends, Kai, Nya, Cole, Pixal, Skylor, and Jay all grim-faced and arms crossed. So they all agreed to come - even Pixal, who didn’t have an element. Or maybe she did, and it was some top-secret power that had lots of information unlike Energy, which was beginning to look a lot like a piss-poor element at the moment.

“Lloyd.”

“Uncle.” With the barest of acknowledgements, Lloyd slipped into the room, next to Pixal and leant against the wall, his hand still gripping the water bottle like it was his lifeline.

“I’m glad to see that you are all here, and I hope you have thought wisely about your choice.” Wu began, his eyes stopping and starting on each student. “So? Do you wish to come?”

Lloyd caught Kai and Nya’s gaze, giving them both a sharp nod. Nya stepped forwards slightly. “Lloyd, Kai and I are going.”

“As are Zane and I,” added Pixal, inching closer to her boyfriend. 

“I’m going.” Skylor confirmed, Cole echoing her.

Jay looked at all of them, his eyes widened, mouth parting in a laugh, “Okay, no way are you guys leaving me here, a _ lone _ for two weeks. I’m in.”

Wu nodded reverently, penning something in his book with an expensive looking fountain pen. “We shall leave on Monday morning at seven-thirty from the steps in front of the main entrance. Pack lightly and yes, you can bring your infernal devices. We will return two weeks from next Monday, and you will all be excused from school work due around that time period.”

Lloyd stood on his tippity-toes to try and get a peek at what Wu was writing, but it just looked like chicken scratch and drawings.

“Uh, what are we supposed to tell our parents?” Jay chuckled nervously.

Wu looked him dead in the eye. “That you are running away with a travelling circus.”

Walker repeated the same chuckle, scratching the back of his head. “Really?” Nya nudged him lightly with her elbow and he shut up. “Right, right. I’ll just tell them it’s a school thing.”

They all milled about, unsure of what to do next. Lloyd tugged at the collar of his jacket. Was it just him, or was it getting hotter?”

“What are you still doing here? Shoo, shoo!” barked Wu, and the eight students fled from his office, realising the time and dashing off to class. Lloyd’s bag thumped annoyingly against the side of his leg, the Energy Archive jostling around and the dull metal corner stabbing him through the bag.

_ Bloody book. _

**jay**

_ Okay, Ma, Pa, I’m running away with a circus—No, wrong one. Ma, Pa, I got a school camping trip for two weeks. I’ll be back soon! Cheerio! Tea anyone?  _

“Jay.  _ Jay! _ ”

Vaguely, Jay realised someone was yelling at him. “Sorry Miss, what was it?”

“Where is Astra Harlow?” demanded his English teacher. 

Flabbergast, he turned in his seat to look at the empty chair behind him. “Dunno, Miss. Actually, she wasn’t here on Friday, was she? Or anytime this week?

Miss Kelly’s expression turned into a sneer as she made a big show of crossing his classmate’s name off the role. “I’ll have to email her parents and ask her why.”

Internally, he prayed for Astra because Miss Kelly was a hound when it came to missing students - missing students and missing homework. They had moved on from Romeo and Juliet - thank god, because that play, no offence Shakespeare, hurt his brain. Love was the ulterior motive, but for murder? That seemed a bit much. Of course, Jay wasn’t in love with a girl who his family was rivals with and hated to death.

No, his parents loved Nya in the few embarrassing moments they’d met, and he’d never actually met Ray or Maya. And, the love seemed pretty much one-sided, so Jay did  _ not  _ relate to Romeo and Juliet at all. That was, until Nya asked him to help with a project of hers. He agreed- partially because it was nice to spend time with her, and because he was genuinely interested. He wasn’t president of the STEAM club for nothing.

His brain was already listing things he’d take to...wherever it was. His Switch, definitely, for entertainment, maybe some comics (that reminded him to ask Lloyd about the Realm Raider series, apparently the blonde liked it and had bought the next few issues), clothes, specifically underwear, obviously the Lightning Archive, and a few other necessities. Just like that, Thursday ended in the blink of an eye.

Somehow Friday passed just as quickly and Jay remembered to tell his parents about the camping field trip, which they were very excited about because Jay wasn’t typically a camping person. Sunday night, when all good things should be done, Jay threw together his supplies and got his duffel bag ready for the trip. He lay in bed staring at the ceiling of the tiny portion of the trailer that he had to himself, wondering what exactly was in store for him.

Like all logical people, Jay started at the beginning of the Lightning Archive. He still couldn’t believe that  _ he _ \- little ol’ Jay Walker, boy from the junkyard - has a superpower like...like he was Fritz Donnegan or something. Essentially, he was a superhero, or one in the making. Super cool power: check. Sad-ish backstory: check. Bullied at school: check. Was probably gonna get a ton of muscles and come back all jacked up: chec— okay no, Jay could not imagine himself loaded with muscles. 

There was a thin line between who would be the skinny bean of their friend group - Lloyd or Jay, and luckily Greenie took the hit. That didn’t mean Jay’s superhero, Fritz Donnegan-style fantasies stopped as Sunday night led him on a thrilling adventure through space as he usually did. But this time, he was zapping enemies, shocking buildings and armies with that beautiful, cruel lightning.

Monday morning came and Jay, despite all his excitement, managed to miss all eight of his alarms as his usual knack for punctuality was taken over his superhero-frenzied dreams. He fought through a blue hoodie, pulled on some comfy grey tracksuit pants and hoisted his bag over his shoulder. At six twenty-five, he kissed his Ma goodbye, hugged Pa and then ran for the bus stop. 

The only bus stop for several miles, Jay used it for just about everything since his parents used the car to pick up supplies or customers. It was an hour’s ride in all, maybe a little less this early with fewer stops and he managed to leap onto the bus just before the doors snapped close. Flashing his public transport card past, Jay collapsed into a seat at the back of the empty bus, strangely reminded of the day they’d evacuated Zane from the park. His friends had grown distant for quite a while, he realised thoughtfully. Maybe this trip would bring them closer together, although he had no idea what to expect.

The bus driver dropped him off right where they were supposed to meet and Jay almost fell asleep on the ride there. Blinking away the daydream of him fighting off Morro and Co epicly, Jay ran to meet his friends. Kai, Nya and Lloyd were the only ones there.  _ Oh yeah, Lloyd moved in with them _ .

“Hey, you finally made it!” Nya teased with a wicked grin.

“Yes, very funny that I don’t live five minutes away—”

“Ten minutes unless Kai is  _ fixing his hair _ ,” Lloyd, Jay and Nya choroused in cheeky unison.

“I’m sorry I have some sense of style—”

“Your style is literally just wearing sports clothes and Nike trainers.” accused Lloyd mischievously.

Kai responded by swatting him over the head with a travel pillow, but weirdly swerved back, still cradling his arm. There was a lump above it which hopefully would be snacks.

“Hey, that’s my pillow!” cried Nya, turning to wrestle it away from her brother.

Kai recruited Lloyd to fight off his sister, leaving Jay awkwardly watching the siblings and the-honouray-sibling fight with each other.

“Jay!” gasped Nya, surfacing from the scuffle, “Help me you idiot!”

Shocked out of his haze, Jay tried and made some success dividing the two teams apart like a playground mediator. “Hey, hey calm down.”

Nya angrily huffed, blowing a lock of raven hair out of her eyes. Kai and Lloyd were doing a terrible victory dance, tossing the pillow up in the air mockingly, albeit one-handed in Kai’s case. His eyes crossed back to Nya, checking over her instinctively to see if she was hurt. No, her eyes only possessed that stormy blue and her cheeks were a little flushed from being in the cold. On her cheek was a large smear of dirt suspiciously shaped like Lloyd’s hand and Jay stuttered on his way forwards.

“Uh, Nya’s there’s a—”

“There’s a  _ what _ ?” 

His hand froze from where he’d been halfway to wiping the mark off. “There’s uh, just some, ah, dirtonyourcheek.”

“There’s a bird on my cheek?”

Even quieter and faster, he mumbled, “There’sdirtonyourcheek.”

“Slow down,” she said gently, taking her hands off her hips.

He did exactly that and exhaled a slow breath, looking back up to catch her gaze. “There’s some dirt on your cheek.”

“Oh, thanks.” she breathed. “Where?”

He almost mumbled his words, but it was like something had possessed him as he moved forwards boldly with a tissue and wiped her cheek tentatively. He almost ran away when her eyes widened - disgust, he first thought - but she smiled and thanked him, running back over to yank Kai and Lloyd away from another disagreement, throwing one last glance over her shoulder.

Jay took a shaky step back and walked into a fire extinguisher, whirling around to find Cole standing there. 

“You  _ so  _ like her.” grinned Cole madly. Skylor appeared out of nowhere beside him, her grin just as knowing.

His mouth fell open as he squealed indignantly “No—no I don’t. You’re her boyfriend!”

Cole squinted at the rising sun, almost in confusion, then barked out in laughter. “You actually  _ believed  _ that? Jay, that was just to distract Chad.”

“It wasn’t just me—Skylor thought you were dating as well!” Jay just caught Skylor’s reaction to Cole’s confession and it was one of surprise.

The redhead spluttered, crossing her arms. “No I did not.”

“We all did,” entered a new voice. Pixal and Zane were standing behind them, eyes dancing with mirth. Pixal spoke again with a laugh, “It was the cherry on top that you actually  _ kissed _ .”

Cole rolled his eyes, and everyone opened their mouths to try out a snippy response when Master Wu trundled by in a  _ minivan _ . Not just any minivan, one that had Steep Wisdom scrawled across the side in neon blue text with a bunch of cheesy promos and pictures around the teapot it was set against.

“You’re joking.” fell out of Jay’s mouth instead of his quip. “A minivan? We’re literally going to kill each other if we’re stuck in that thing.”

“Depends how long we’ll be in there for.” shrugged Skylor hopefully. 

Wu leant out of the driver’s seat, his hat bumping against the top of the window. “It’s a four hour drive students, make sure you’ve used the toilet and are prepared for the journey ahead!”

“Yeah, we’re gonna kill each other.”

**A/N: roadtrip???? Wu in a minivan?? Hippie wu??? So yes, the plot will pick up! Two weeks of chaos and training and learning about their elements. I’ve written up quite a bit for the elemental archives and their whole system, really the fun part, but then comes having to do maths to figure out how many elemental masters have come before. Also in case you don’t know/haven’t noticed (how, idk) but i am** **_crap_ ** **at writing romance, however love is always a strong point in stories and i need to work on that so yes* i was listening to AC/DC while writing this chapters and i am ready to have a battle of song choices next chapter in the minivan. Until next week!**

**-dommie out**


	30. [28] road trip, but everyone dies

**pixal**

It was surprising that they all managed to fit into the minivan seeing as there were nine of them in total, counting Wu. Eight elemental masters and...Pixal. To say she’d been disappointed when Wu hadn’t passed her an Archive would be an understatement. The newly found acceptance of being an android had certainly lifted her mood, but being left out so awkwardly felt like something was drowning her underwater.

Then Wu had called her back and she assured her friends that everything was fine, trying to swallow the disappointment choking her throat as she re-entered his office. She’d always found Principal Wu to be a strange man ever since she’d come to Ninjago High. He radiated something that she’d always sensed as a caution to think carefully before talking to him. Of course he was the infamous gang lord’s brother, but it seemed as if everyone had forgotten his last name and simply referred to him as ‘Wu’ or ‘Principal Wu’.

Pixal didn’t fully understand how she, as an android was feeling everything, seeing everything, sensing everything, but as simply as her father had put it, she was exactly like a human, just metal. And infinitely smarter, he’d added. Cyrus had been able to teach her a few things about her systems, how they operated, how to use the features he’d given her and so on. Each day she was discovering more interesting things about herself and despite however cautious she had been, her curiosity grew stronger. Another major factor he’d taught her was that she was specially designed AI. As Pixal learnt, so did her AI. Both relied on each other, so the more Pixal knew, the better, the smatter, and the stronger she would become.

So when Wu offered to train her alongside her friends, no matter the lack of elemental power, she accepted. It would be an enriching experience and her systems told her she would greatly benefit from it. Although she wouldn’t have an element, Wu insisted she’d be an integral part of the team. All in all, things were looking up. Pixal was in the very back of the minivan, where there were three seats, next to Zane and Skylor after that. The middle row held Jay, Lloyd, Nya, with Cole sitting next to Wu in the front. For some unknown reason Kai had volunteered to sit in the boot with a makeshift seatbelt besides all the luggage. Wu really should have insisted otherwise but judging by the bags under his eyes and the tall tumblr of what she assessed to be caffeinated tea he didn’t have the energy to deal with it.

The first hour passed quite well. Pixal had one of her functions - a predictability sensor - gauge if anything was to happen, and as to it’s prediction, nothing happened apart from a few lousy squabbles.

She and Zane ended up listening to a podcast as they watched the scenery whizz past, his head resting on her shoulder even though he was significantly taller. After the first season of the podcast was finished, Zane was well and truly asleep, his chest rising in slow, paced breaths. Another thing she was trying out - her systems ran a scan over him and found Zane in perfect shape, a few notes coming in but everything was fine. Shutting off her AI, she smiled softly and settled into a more comfortable position, resting her head on top of Zane’s before dozing off into a light sleep.

“SON OF A BITCH STOLE MY TWIZZLERS!”

With a gasp, Pixal jerked up right at the loud yelling. Cole was now at the wheel (he and Master Wu were the only ones legally old enough to drive) and was fending Lloyd off with one hand while Kai and Jay were yelling over each other, only separated by the seat. Nya and Skylor, both amused, seemed to be processing a type of trade involving mini pretzels and M&M’s.

Pixal leant across Zane who was still sleeping peacefully, most likely in the REM stage, too deep to stir, and avoided Kai from his position in the boot he was giving Jay and a noogie from across the rows (one that hurt, judging by the loud squawking).

“What exactly is going on?” Pixal whispered to Nya and Skylor. Both sniggered, casting cautious looks back to the raucous boys.

“Cole stole one of Lloyd’s Twizzlers but can’t do anything about it because Cole is driving, Kai then accused Jay of stealing his hair gel and then Jay realised Lloyd was using his Switch and now it’s at thirty percent. Kai also refuses to leave a three centimetre boundary from the boot.” Nya snorted. “I honestly don’t know how Wu and Zane are still asleep.”

For a moment, Pixal wanted to launch into a lecture about Zane being an android and how it was likely he was restoring or backing up his memory, or simply recharging. But it was Zane’s secret to tell, and she hadn’t even told  _ her  _ closest friends yet, so she accepted a green M&M and popped it in her mouth, pleasantly surprised by the peanut core.

Skylor rolled her eyes, “An hour and a half and they’ve turned into cavemen. Wanna make a bet when they’ll start thumping their chests and chanting like they’re in a cult?” 

Pixal laughed quietly, pillaging the bag of M&M’s again. “I wonder what Wu wants us to do once we arrive at our destination.”

“That reminds me Pix, what did Wu want to talk to you about?” Nya asked.

“I’m to train alongside you seven and help Wu while he trains me in Shaolin Kung-Fu.”

“Sounds interesting,” Skylor remarked. “Knock it off!”

The last words were directed to Jay, Kai and Lloyd as everyone else was tense and the atmosphere brittle. The boys quietened down with dirty glares, adamantly looking everywhere but each other. 

“Who wants aux?” Cole said suddenly, most likely trying to mend the broken peace. It half-worked as another squabble broke out, but Jay’s fist caught around the aux and tugged it back towards him. Zane stirred from beside her sleepily, sending her a soft, private smile  _ just for her _ and Pixal’s heart threatened to melt on the spot right then and there

“I’m playing Megalovania!”

“ALL STAR.”

“May I suggest some Beatles?”

“Or, we could listen to AC/DC because some of us have taste?”

“Hamilton? Please?”

“Ooo, how about—”

“We are  _ not  _ listening to All Star.”

“Fight me Twizzler-Stealer.”

“Shakira?”

“Her hips are lying, we’re all going to die together in this fucking van.”

“Language!”

Two hours left.

**astra**

The thing about having siblings was that they mixed half truths and half lies together.

Cassie was that type of sibling, and had not warned Astra properly on the sword-swinging aspects about being in a gang. Someone had just tried to lop her head off with a sword, and it was a Monday morning, the start of her second week of training. Of course it was awkward swerving like a thousand pound rhinoceros with her cast on and she even heard the  _ shing  _ of the metal and saw a thin strand of her hair fall to the ground.

“What the hell man? Not cool.” She growled, narrowing her eyes accusingly. “You could have cut my head off.”

The guy nodded, “That was the point, yes.”

“Who are you?” she asked, more than a little afraid. 

“Troya’s out on a mission today so I’ll be overseeing your training, kid. You will refer to me as Riptide when  _ I  _ speak to you.”

“Kid? I am not a  _ kid _ —”

“You’re still in highschool, right?” he said, his eyes levelling with hers. She nodded as her eyes watered from trying not to blink.

“You’ve got a lot to learn, the first being  _ expect the unexpected _ .”

“What exactly do you mean by that—”

Her question was cut off by a fist flying through the air for her jaw. She twisted just in time and hissed in pain as she rested weight on her broken knee. It was healing fast - faster than anticipated and Obi said she might be able to get the cast off at the end of this week to train with a brace instead. But it was still tender, and it hurt like a bitch.

“Since you don’t have the muscle to pack on, reflexes are going to be your lifeline, Reaper. Half a second makes the biggest difference and more often than not you’ll have lost your weapon in battle and your fists — and feet, once they’re ready to go, will be your next biggest weapon.” Riptide tossed her two purple wraps and motioned for her to put them on. “Get going. If you think Troya was hard on you, then think again.”

Today Astra really hated her weird immune system because Riptide seemed to think that she was healing just fine and that there was nothing wrong with her hands, which there wasn’t, but after two hours of fitness and upper body training they were ready to fall off. It wasn’t that there was a change in her schedule, it just was Riptide pushing her harder than she’d even bothered to try.

Her usual weekday followed the same schedule. At seven-thirty, she woke up, had breakfast and got ready until eight fifteen, when she had two hours of school work (apparently she still needed to do that), then at ten thirty after a short break, she’d do fitness with Cassie until twelve thirty and have a quick lunch. At one, she was being taught more assassin type-stuff, stealth, maps of Ninjago, the whole shebang, then at two thirty she had two hours of weapons training. After that she was free to do whatever - usually encouraged to train more, but today she’d received a message that Big G wanted to speak with her. Fun.

She was getting along quite well with her crossbow - as well as one could do with a week’s worth of practice. Her second main weapon was a surprise to her. A fully fledged katana, simply put, a sword with a slight curve to it’s build. When she’d asked  _ why  _ a katana and not a gun or something, her sister had thrown her head back in laughter.

“First, you’re not old enough for a gun, second, having a katana will improve your general skill, and third, we can get away with using swords without the law coming down on us. But the police are pretty pathetic, not gonna lie.”

“How is using a sword any less dangerous than a gun?”

“If it’s listed as historical re-enactment, then it is.”

“That does not make any sense.”

“Nothing does lil’ Reaper.”

“Don’t call me that Star Des _ troy _ er.”

“Vice versa, or I’ll stab you with my historical re-enactment prop.”

“Bullshit. You wouldn’t dare.”

There was an unnerving glint in her sister’s eyes that she’d backed off to continue three simple jab exercises, unnerving enough that she shuddered and returned to the present, walking alongside Riptide to the cafeteria. Astra had shut up in the first fifteen minutes of her fitness training, gritting her teeth as she imagined her father’s piggish face on the punching bag, relishing in the  _ smack  _ when her fist slammed into the bag. However, Riptide always had little snide comments on her technique which was really getting on her nerves because it was her second week.

“Can I get a footlong turkey sub?”

The man behind the counter tossed her the sandwich wrapped in wax paper and Astra lunged for it, just able to catch it with a growl of frustration. If there was one thing she’d learnt while being at HQ, it was everything threw you everything like they were bowling in a cricket game. Riptide offered to carry her sandwich to the main mess table and she thanked him grudgingly, hobbling behind on her crutches. She sat at the end just to avoid squeezing between people with her clunky cast.

The majority of people in SOG were older than her, apart from two other teenagers who were two years older than her. They were banished to the end so the grown ups could talk ‘Big G things’ as she’d nicknamed it. So that left her to awkwardly converse with Whisperer and Maul. Yes, everyone had gory code names, then again, she was in a street gang.

Whisperer was never seen without her mask, and if you saw anything below her blood red eyes, then....you were either pinned for death or she was vulnerable. You learnt these things very quickly when you lingered around HQ after finishing mandatory training for the day. Maul had a scar slashed over his eye which really added to his name, but he seemed to be the softest guy (not as soft as Kade, the guy was a literal teddy bear) so he, in turn was a very contradicting person.

“Ayyy! Mini Troya, how are you?”

And somehow everyone knew she was Cassie’s little sister, which in truth was a little alarming that something so private had been leaked to a street gang, but Astra’s life was as upside down as it already was and she didn’t have the energy to deal with it.

“Oh fuck off, Whisp.”

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning.” sniggered Whisp, unabashed.

“I sleep in a bunk bed, it’s either that or rolling through a wall.” She and Whisp were the only female apprentices that she knew of, so they shared a ten person dorm between the two of them. Astra suspected there were plenty more though, as there were small signs in the dorm room that other people had stayed there. This obviously wasn’t the SOG’s only base, just the main.

“Riptide’s a hard trainer but you’ll need it,” shrugged Maul, taking a bite of his meatball sub. Whisp wasn’t eating at all. 

“Life or death.” Astra choroused numbly with the two other present apprentices. The SOG’s motto was short and sweet - either you were alive to say it, or you weren’t. 

“Jeez, they couldn’t add sweet chili or mayo or  _ something  _ to this?” Astra swallowed a dry mouthful of turkey sub with a sip of water.

“When you’re on rota for cafeteria then you can add some flavour.” Maul commented. “These people cannot cook.”0

“Maybe I will.” Astra considered it and added it to her list.

“If you do, tell them to add more pepperoni to the—hey, where are you going?”

“Training!” she yelled back to Whisp while making her getaway on her crutches.

o o o

At five, after general training and weapons specialist, Astra made her way to Med-Sec, where she was due to have a check up appointment whilst talking to Big G. Was she scared? Definitely. Swinging wildly on her crutches, the automated doors slid aside as she hopped in. Obi smiled in greeting from behind the main desk, another SOG member cheerily waving hello while Joker stitched up a leg wound.

Gagging slightly at the sight of blood, Astra followed Obi into the room where she’d received her cast - unconscious - and leant her crutches against the counter and hopped to the chair, releasing a relaxed sigh once the weight was taken off her leg. Obi performed her usual check up, occasionally asking Astra questions about pain or soreness levels.

The black device everyone carried around, which Astra figured to be a highly advanced walkie-talkie but not a BorgPhone, shrieked from the belt at Obi’s waist. The doctor pushed aside a stray hair and stared at the screen before releasing a long-suffering sigh.

“Lord Garmadon is here.”

And true to her word, less than ten seconds later a tendril of dark something opened the door and the leader of the Sons of Garmadon strode in. Three seconds after that, Astra fainted because his side was painted with fresh blood, which did  _ not  _ look like his.

_ “Does she do this a lot?” _

_ “Yes, I’m afraid it’s not the most useful skill.” _

_ “Well, she’ll have to suck it up. You don’t get into this kind of work without getting mixed up with some blood.” _

_ “I know, sir.” _

Astra’s head span and there was a metallic taste on the tip of her tongue as she dizzily rose to sit up right. Garmadon took a menacing step towards her and in reflex, her hands stretched forward, fingers splayed out as a purple wisp escaped her fingertips and slammed into the wall where Obi  _ had  _ been. If her training and reflexes hadn’t moved her aside. Might have been avoided is Astra could fucking  _ aim _ .

“Holy shit—Obi I’m so sorry I literally have no idea what that was—”

“You know, I think you might be anemic.” Obi said for the sake of cutting Astra off. She picked her up her clipboard and backed out with a short nod to Garmadon, but her hands were  _ shaking. _

The Lord crossed his hands behind his back and looked at her.

“So you have an elemental power. Hmmm.”

“A what now?”

“An elemental power, the power to control an element. Were you not told the bedtime stories?”

“My parents weren't really bothered with me, no.”

He simply hmphed and strode to examine the scorch mark on the wall. “Not fire, no, he already found the boy. Perhaps?...”

“Um, what are you going on about?”

His eyes cut to hers and he raised his hand summoning a swirling nearly-black ball of that something he’d used to open the door. Keeping her eyes above his blood-stained shirt, Astra nervously kept her eyes moving from his gaze. He was a very tense man, like dough that hadn’t rested before a proper kneading.

“Watered down, thousands upon thousands of years ago the First Spinjitzu Master gifted a group of special people with the power to control elements in order to protect Ninjago, a place he’d created. They all fall into three ranks, the first, primary core elements: Fire, Earth, Ice and Lightning. Then the secondary elements, and finally the tertiary elements.”

Whatever his element was, it radiated danger and destruction yet she felt like she wanted to stick her finger in it to see what would happen.

“However, he did not predict what would happen. As the elemental masters began spreading across Ninjago, sometimes  _ new  _ elements would pop up unannounced, which would then be assessed and given their own tier. But the practice of elemental masters has been reduced to storytime and fables. Despite that, they are still very much real.”

Astra's mouth was getting dry and she took a tentative sip from the plastic cup of water.

“Now, the First Spinjitzu Master had two boys. One possessed the power of Creation. And the other...Destruction.” his hand lit alight again with a wicked smile.

“You’re a son of the First Spinjitzu Master?” she breathed, entranced by the ethereal glow. 

He nodded sharply and the ball disappeared. “There have been no other instances in which this element has cropped up, but seeing as it falls under my jurisdiction of Destruction, I find it ironic Death would be fitting for a clumsy, hemophobic kid.”

“Excuse  _ me _ , I don’t even know what hemophobic means but I am very offended, and  _ oh my god you just said I have the element of Death _ .” Astra shrieked as her vision swam, ready to pass out.

Garmadon snapped his fingers and she jolted back upright. “Shit, man, you couldn’t have said that to me with a better explanation?”

“I explained it very well, you just have a closed mindset. You will begin training with me to master your element from five o’clock to six thirty everyday. We have no time to waste.”

“Uh, why do we not have time?”

A slash of a smile.

“Destruction is coming, Reaper. Be ready.”

**A/N: heyo, so this is quite important! When Zane/Pixal use their AI features, that sort of screen with holographic features and additions comes up, and they can switch that on/off! And, you may be noticing that things are becoming more strongly worded/exploring mature topics because the book, chapters after this will be explicit in gory/battle/training as i write it. So any chapters after that essentially has a non-written tw for blood/gore/death (hehe)**

**Garmadon is a very interesting character to write. He’s, as Astra said, like dough that hasn’t been rested. Stiff, but calm and he’s very knowledgeable and** **_very_ ** **old even though he may not look it. And yes! Astra’s element has been revealed, Death :) those from cos (if there's any of you here lmao) will know that already and some of the skills she’ll be able to use in the future.**

**Today we hit 70k words and 170 pages on moral of the story! I am beating myself up slightly for how long it took for the plot to get going (bloody hell i talk about that alot) but hopefully for lmu it’ll be set out easier as me and planning are now fragile frenemies instead of full blown enemies.**

**ALSO THIS IS DOMMIE SUNDAY NIGHT PRE MONDAY UPDATE, GUESS WHAT??? A LITTLE MESSED UP IS NOT THE SEQUEL TO MORAL OF THE STORY, TITLE CHANGE GUYS, IT’S TO RULE THE WORLD**

**Which originally was the third book, but i swapped it. For now. We’ll see. Help. so if i ever refer to lmy i really mean rtw (rule the world), i just write my a/n’s ahead of time!**

**-dommie out**


	31. [29] jamanaKAI...get it?

**zane**

It was truly a beautiful sight. Jamanakai Village was a petite area set in the side of a mountain near the range named Mountains of Impossible Height, with crisp clean air high up in the mountains, snow capping slopes and painting the village.

Wu said it was the nearest village to where they would be residing for two weeks, so Zane assumed they were camping somewhere. Off in the distance he could spy the tallest mountain in the range, strangely set aside from the others. Something told him it was named the Mountain of Million Steps, and for good reason. Wu parked the minivan in the small parking area and everyone hopped out, eager to stretch their legs and have a look around Jamanakai.

Someone remembered to open the boot for Kai, who immediately ran for a field of grass nearby, hunched over with his Dragons jacket on. Zane stuck his hands in the pockets of his Sphinxes jacket and walked down the main road of Jamanaki. The buildings were well insulated against the cold with strong, thick walls and tiled roofs with snow heaped on top. The road wound around in no particular direction, most likely to save space from what little they had in this position.

Unique red trees stuck up from the ground, huge roots lumping the earth. Zane sat down on a bench shaded by an overhanging branch, scooping up a handful of snow. Imagining it hardening and turning into an ice cube, he furrowed his brow for a good five minutes until he realised his attempts were fruitless. Ice and snow were not the same thing.

“Zane, we’re having brunch at the inn!” yelled Lloyd from the other side of the secluded area. “Hurry up before Cole eats everything we ordered!”

“I’m coming Lloyd.” he responded, waiting for the young Garmadon to leave for a minute more of privacy. Instead, Lloyd walked closer.

“Um, Zane, if you’re an android, how do you eat? How do you  _ po— _ ”

“I advise you do not finish your question Lloyd, not only because it is not the appropriate topic right before we eat, but because I don’t have the answers right now. This trip is supposed to help me find them.”

“Right...who else knows?”

Zane considered not telling Lloyd. But hiding it, hiding everything would just push him away from discovering everything. “Pixal, Cole, and you, I believe.”

Lloyd nodded, looking awfully young as his hair slid over his eyes. Zane had always admired how quickly he’d matured, deflecting the jeers from his heritage, yet still managed to be a kid. It was good he was spending more time with Kai and Nya, practically family. Lately, Zane had noticed his own change on his general outlook on life, like he possessed a sixth sense. He let the snow fall to the ground and followed Lloyd to a cosy, two story inn.

The ground floor was the dining area with a bar and even a small performing stage. Above were lodgings that they wouldn’t need as they only had an hour and a half left of their ride. The biggest table had been reserved for them, shoved against the length of the inn with booths on one side and chairs on the other. Principal Wu took the head of the table, everyone filling in after that in a shamble. 

It seems they had already ordered and the waiters were coming around with bowls of rice and stew, when Skylor suddenly said;

“Where’s Kai?”

“Who?” Cole said through a mouth of food. Nya hit him over the head with a chopstick. “Oh, right sor- _ ry _ .”

“I don’t know.” everyone mumbled, too busy shovelling in food. 

The redhead sighed. “I’ll go look for the idiot.”

She left without another word and Zane returned to his stew with renewed fervour, scraping the sides with a slice of crusty bread. His friends were all talking and joking raucously much to the annoyance of other dining patrons. Wu shushed them with the air of a grandfather and everyone quietened down considerably. Steaming cups of tea were brought around and Zane touched his fingers to it, hiding a quiet gasp as a thin film of ice wrapped itself around the cup to cool it down.

The door to the inn opened, with Skylor and Kai standing in the doorway, the latter with a sheepish look, a wriggling lump in his jacket. Dragging Kai by the collar, Skylor stalked back to the table and pushed him into the spare chair.

“Tell them what you did.”

His mouth remained clamped shut.

“Kai,” Skylor warned in a dangerously low tone, sitting down so she was level with his eyes. “ _ Tell them _ .”

“Fine!” he obliged reluctantly. “Don’t yell at me for this.”

Kai opened his jacket and everyone’s breath caught in surprise.

“YOU BROUGHT  _ RYU _ ?” thundered Nya, standing up to slam her hands into the table.

“He’s too  _ cute _ .” Kai wailed in protest. “He did his puppy dog eyes on me!”

“That does not—”

Ryu turned doleful orbs to Nya, cocking his head inquisitively as if to say  _ what’s wrong? _

“ _ Awwww _ —wait no, Ryu stop it!” Nya shut her eyes. “Someone else yell at Kai for me.”

“No! I talked to Misako and she said it was okay! We couldn’t just  _ leave  _ him alone for two weeks my heart would snap in two and I’d never love  _ again _ .”

Skylor snorted and Kai shot her a heated look. Zane looked away, shading his eyes as the two loudly squabbled, towards his girlfriend, who was poorly concealing a laugh behind her hand too. Jay was desperately trying to keep Nya from strangling her brother and Lloyd was cackling in good humour, trying to take photos of everything with his phone. Cole had his hands on the food and was slowly feeding Ryu under the table. Zane gently tugged the puppy away.

“He should not eat such rich food right now. He appears to be two and a half months old and his final vaccines will only take place in another month and a half.” Zane’s eyebrows rose in surprise.  _ How did I know all of that by just looking at him? _

“How did you know that—is it because you’re a  _ you know what _ ?” Cole whispered discreetly between mouthfuls of rice and stew.

Zane shrugged. “Most likely. Even I do not know the extent of what I can do.”

Initially, he and Pixal had been surprised and defensive when Cole had launched out of the shadows, demanding to know what was going on. So they’d told him, and he’d been...understanding. Understanding, hadn’t treated them any differently, yet Zane stil was scared he or Lloyd would tell someone.  _ When I’m ready _ . He promised himself, turning back to the table.

Wu had more or less gotten everything under control, the innkeeper even had gotten a dish of water and dog food for the tiny puppy. Kai was hurriedly telling Nya that he’d brought everything - dog food, toys, Ryu’s bed, everything Misako had packed ready for him to take Ryu with him.

“I think she wanted me to tell you guys before though.” Kai admitted sheepishly. 

“Yeah? No shit sherlock.”

o o o

Zane did not mind walking. It gave him an opportunity to tune out and explore his systems, but his friend’s incessant talking in attempts to keep entertained were really getting to him. After lunch, they’d all piled back into the minivan and settled on some music type everyone had grudgingly agreed to as a middle ground. An hour and a half later in the minivan, Wu had parked at the base of the mountain Zane had spotted from Jamanaki Village. 

He told them their destination was at the very top of the  _ tallest  _ of the Mountains of Impossible Height, which severely demoralised the non-androids. Zane and Pixal only looked to each other, with a small smirk even, as they started the long walk. Kai was forced to carry Ryu, the dog’s supplies and his own since he’d lied to them, a punishment brought down on him by Wu and Nya combined.

It could have been a lot worse if Jay hadn’t calmed Nya down beforehand, and Wu was a voice of calm reasoning. So here they were, marching up the mountain in the hot sun. They had filled up their water bottles beforehand, but the beating sun had quickly turned them. Then Zane had an idea.

“Lloyd, pass me your water bottle.” Shrugging to avoid talking, the blonde handed Zane his water bottle. It was halfway full, the warmed water sloshing around the inside of the plastic, turned green by the colouring.

Concentrating, just like in Jamanaki Inn, the ice crept around the water battle and Lloyd took a sip of it, his eyes lighting up in glee. “Thanks, Zane.”

“What did you do?” Pixal asked softly.

“I just…” he borrowed her water bottle and repeated the action. “There.”

“Very useful, Mr Refrigerator.” Pixal smiled, taking an appreciative mouthful of cold water.

He laughed it off, secretly proud as he continued to chill everyone’s water bottles for the rest of the walk. Most of them were in fairly good shape so they made rapid pace, only slowing to take proper breaks every now and again. Forty-five minutes later, Zane topped the mountain first and took a long drink from his bottle. Everyone else filed in after him, and Wu stepped to the front, his face shaded by the wide brim of his hat.

“Welcome to the Monastery of Spinjitzu, where elemental masters have trained for thousands and thousands of years, and where  _ you  _ will all train in the art of soul-searching to achieve your potential.”

“What does he mean by  _ soul-searching _ ?” Jay wheezed out in a terrible stage whisper, still panting from the climb.

“I believe Principal Wu means meditation.” Zane supplied, re-chilling Jay’s water bottle for him.

“You want us to  _ meditate  _ for two weeks straight?” spluttered Kai, barely holding back a wriggling Ryu.

“No, that would be ridiculous. First, you have chores.”

“ _ Chores? _ ” everyone moaned in unison. Wu nodded, pointing a bamboo staff that had materialised in his hands to the monastery behind him.

“Sweeping, cleaning, mopping, you name it. There is no point trying to clear your mind in a space that has not been cleared.”

“But Principal Wu—”

“I think it’s best if you all refer to me as Master Wu for these two weeks, and for when you continue your training outside of this trip.” Everyone still seemed demoralised from the epic journey they’d been envisioning, so Wu’s next words were somewhat hesitant. “Slowly, we will integrate physical fighting with your mastery of elements and meditation for your training.”

**nya**

Puffing her cheeks to blow a frustrated burst of air, Nya’s hair scattered with the wind as she scrubbed at the walls furiously. Ryu ran circles around the monastery, showing no open signs of tiring anytime soon. Her first concern when entering the monastery was checking that everything was safe for Ryu. Wu assured her it was, and Pixal and Zane had taken a walk, staring at several parts of the monastery strangely before backing Wu up. She, Kai and Lloyd had gone on their own trek just to check and didn’t yield any contradicting results.

That left her with scrubbing at the Monastery’s boundary walls, from the eggish white back to original colour that peeked through in some places. She let her sponge soak up more soapy water and returned to viciously scouring the walls. Her sore arm fell into a routine, circling the wall until the water had gone brown, then sloshing some of it back on, dunking her sponge and starting again.

Her mind could wander freely while she worked her arm off. An hour after arriving at the monastery, everyone had snooped around to claim rooms and check out the closed doors, which remained firmly closed until further notice. There wasn’t much else to do, so they’d started cleaning. Jay and Pixal were sweeping out all of the rooms, Nya was on the walls (inner and outer), Lloyd and Skylor were sorting through the monastery, finding useless and useful stuff. Kai...was doing something somewhere. Nya swore she saw him going around the back to check something out in the small field behind the monastery.

It was painfully obvious that the monastery hadn’t been touched in  _ years _ by the dust lining everything, but the fondness that Wu spoke with, it obviously meant a lot to him. Her arm was getting tired - falling off right now tired, when an idea sparked in her brain. Dropping the sponge to the paved path, Nya took a step away and looked intently at the bucket of water.

_ Please work _ . 

Her hands clenched as a quivering droplet of water rose from the bucket, others gathering to join it. It helped for barely ten seconds and then dropped back into the bucket.

_ So much for being the Water Elemental. _

Really, that had been one of the few signs that she actually was the Master of Water. The glasses shattering and a pitiful sphere of water that scarcely held shape. Sighing, she took a step back from her work and cheered as she realised that she’d finished her task. Time to head to the kitchen and grab a  _ cold  _ drink and a snack. The stew from Jamanaki seemed long ago according to her grumbling stomach.

“Come on Ryu,” she lugged the bucket back, draining the water to leave the bucket by the hose as Ryu trotted alongside her. She passed Jay and Pixal determinedly sweeping out the courtyard of the monastery with brittle brooms and found Cole in the kitchen. He’d obviously been cleaning up, and even though he couldn’t cook to save his life, he got the kitchen back into more-or less working condition. The fridge was just cold enough for the food and drinks they’d stocked up on from Jamanaki - and hauled up from the minivan. Wu had insisted they get the most of what they needed then, and she could see why. If Jamanaki was the closest settlement it would be a trek going back and forth. While Nya wasn’t ruthless, she appreciated efficiency.

She hopped up on the counter, legs swinging above the ground as Cole continued scrubbing out the oven.

“You like him.” came his muffled voice.

She nearly spat her drink over Ryu.

“No I don't.”

“I never said who,” Cole replied with a cheeky grin, his face smeared with soot from the old oven. 

“Well—whoever it is you're talking about, I don’t like them.” she tried to sound confident but faltered at his self-assured expression. “Don’t look at me like that Mister  _ Matchmaker _ .”

“Hey, hey, I’m just saying.” he raised his hands in mock surrender. “I don’t need  _ love  _ but I can sure be your wingman.”

“I don’t need help! I’m doing just  _ fine _ .” 

“You two stumble over each other like donkeys with blindfolds.” Cole snorted, standing up to brush his hands off. “It’s the least I can do.”

“I...I don’t know if I  _ like-like  _ him, y’know?” she whispered, trying and failing to gather her thoughts. “He’s sweet, and he’s caring, he likes the same stuff I do, but we’re not exactly the  _ same  _ but we’re not polar opposites. It’s confusing. I hate confusing.”

“Well that probably means you like him,” Cole offered, a hint of a smile playing on his face.

“I  _ can’t  _ like Jay. He’s my friend, what if we broke up and then never talked to each other again? I don’t want that to happen.”

Cole just shrugged.

“I don’t  _ like  _ Jay!” she blurted suddenly, refusing to accept it. Something at the doorway clattered to the ground and she clapped her hands over her mouth. 

Jay was standing at the door, his blue eyes frozen over hers. He shot off faster than Nya had ever seen him run voluntarily.

“Jay! Come back, Jay…” She was utterly frozen to the ground, Ryu dancing around her feet. Her expression turned furious as she swung towards Cole. “What am I supposed to do now? He probably hates me.”

“I don’t know, why are you asking me? I’ve had like, two girlfriends, and one of them wasn’t even a real relationship.” Cole spluttered. “Ask, your brother or something.”

“He doesn’t even have relationships! Just stupid flings.” she moaned desperately, feeling like she wanted to smack her forehead into the wall.

“I dunno. I heard he and Brittney were getting on pretty well.” Cole shrugged again.

“I need ice cream.” Nya sighed. “Lots of ice cream.”

Cole grinned and opened the freezer, revealing several pints of ice cream in different flavours. “Once Wu decides to let us go, you can pick a movie.”

She smiled tiredly. “We’ll see, if Wu keeps us working until sunrise tomorrow I might have withered down to my skeleton.”

Cole waved her off and she journeyed to find her brother in the last place she’d seen him, behind the monastery in a field of wild growing grass. He was kicking at an old lawnmower, talking on his phone with his hands thrown up in frustration. Ryu scampered along at her feet though his pace had slowed noticeably.

“Brit, I’m sorry I didn’t call you today, I’m  _ really  _ sorry babe. I know. Okay. Bye.”

Nya tapped him on the shoulder, raising a brow. “What was  _ that  _ about?”

“Brittney is having attachment issues,” he sighed. “This is why I don’t do relationships.”

“Trust me,” she snorted, taking a spiteful kick at the mower. “Love sucks.”

“She’s so  _ clingy _ ,” he continued to complain, “I don’t even think I said I wanted to be her boyfriend and she wants to print a blanket with our  _ faces  _ on it.”

She was laughing uncontrollably as he stared at her, aghast.

“Stop laughing! It’s not helping”

“ _ Ba-abe _ .” she guffawed between breaths. “I’m  _ rea-lly  _ so _ rry _ baaaa _ beee _ .”

His face twisted with anger - good natured, though he looked like his hair was about to burst into flames.  _ Fitting for Fire.  _ She took off running with Ryu at her heels, yelling repeated bits of their conversation between gasps and giggles. Ryu tore through the grass at top speed with wee barks that might have been laughter if he was human. Nya took the opportunity of Ryu’s distraction to pick up Kai’s phone and send a garbled text message to Brittney, picking up her accomplice in crime and rushing off before Kai could find her.

Her hair plastered across her face, Nya huddled in an old shed at the back of the monastery, cuddling Ryu in her arms as she forced a snort of laughter down, hushing Ryu amidst playing with him. The puppy snuggled into her arms and opened his mouth to let a tiny yawn, his eyes blinking close.

“Don’t worry little guy, no one’s ever gonna hurt you. Promise.”

She could have sworn he opened an eye to wink at her.

**A/N: i love ryu so much no it's not because i made him to fill the void in my heart that's not it at all noooo. Um. threw in some jaya drama because i did tag this book as a slowburn (not an excuse for me to get my romance skills up to par no not at all) but i love the idea of cole being nyas wingman even though he has like no idea what he's doing lmao. Zane is also confirmed samsung refrigerator :) um. Made a timeline for mos so i have the barest resemblance to a plan. Starting to get my ideas down to something coherent for lmu and evened out all the thingies. Just remembered i forgot something on the timeline thanks—**

**SIDE NOTE YES I KNOW I SPELT JAMANAKAI WRONG LIKE HALF THE TIMES SORRY IM TOO ARSED OT CHANGE IT.**

**enjoy this random, not Monday update**

**-dommie out**


	32. [30] a packet of (censored) skittles?

**kai**

“Brit, I’m  _ sorry _ , my sister got my phone and sent that message, it wasn’t me.”

“You didn’t send—you didn’t send  _ iorgnvosniow _ ?” his girlfriend hysterically gasped.

_ How did she even say that— _

“No, I didn’t. Do you not have siblings?” That was how well he knew her.

“I don’t, Kai, I told you already!”  _ She did? _ he thought, bewildered as he kicked the lawnmower into start. The loud thrumming gave him an excellent excuse to say, “What was that? Sorry, I think someone is moving their lawn. Bye babe!”

“Wait—”

“...Yeah?”

“Are there any other girls you’re staying with?” Brittney asked sharply.

“Uh my sister. Zane’s girlfriend.” he mumbled, staring at the sun blearily.

“No one else?”

“No- _ pe _ .” he replied cheerily, popping the ‘p’. “Gotta go!”

He considered tossing his phone into the path of the lawnmower for extra effect, then decided against it and stripped off his Dragons jacket. It was getting hotter later in the afternoon, and he’d rather get the grass done and over with before the sun started boiling him alive. He made quick work of the field, back-breaking work because of the century old mower  _ he  _ had to push around. 

Kai walked through the monastery side gate, making sure it was locked behind him as Master Wu had strictly instructed. Also because they didn’t want Ryu escaping. Kai snorted to himself, still unsure of how Nya hadn’t strangled him for bringing their puppy with them, but he’d planned it out. Sort of. Kinda not planned at all, but the gesture was heartwarming.

Not to mention the damn puppy could guilt you into murder with his big eyes. He walked through the corridor he and the boys were planning to claim. Five rooms in each corridor, so they could all have their own. Poking his head inside the one furthest from the main living room he wordlessly claimed it as his. It was the smallest, shaped in an odd rectangle but it offered more privacy. The mattress was in a simple bed frame, a threadbare rug that had been salvaged by Skylor and Lloyd from the storage room, a desk with a matching chair and the final piece of the furniture set, a dresser.

The bed was pushed into the furthest back corner to his left, the dresser opposite the foot of the bed. The desk was on the same wall as the dresser, and that was pretty much it. The striped rug was faded and had tassels that looked like they were about to fall off. He retrieved his bag from the pile at the front gate and half-heartedly put all his belongings away to avoid the incessant pinging of his phone, which, probably was from Brittney. 

He slumped onto his bed and looked from his phone to the Archive of Fire.  _ Brittney or my history?  _

“brittney.del sent you a voice message.” announced his phone pompously.

History it was.

Kai had never been one for reading. Too much of a hassle when he could copy off one of his smarter friends, or attempt to charm his way out of an F. But the Archive of Fire was almost  _ yelling  _ at him to open and read, so he obeyed, flipping to the very first entry.

**_Archive of Fire, Entry One, Calla_ **

_ Hello whoever is reading this now. I imagine that you are incredibly confused as to why your hair is on fire right now. _

He dropped the book like a hot potato and ran to the closest mirror, a garbled sound escaping his throat as the tips of his perfectly coiffed hair were spiralling smoke because it was on  _ fire _ . Dashing to the bathroom, Kai smothered water over his hair angrily, waiting for the flames to extinguish before stomping back to the stupid book.

_ If you haven’t doused your hair with water by now, you are an imbecile. The power of Fire is uncontrollable when you start, and I for one, know that. Calla, Master of Fire sounds cool, doesn’t it? Well you have to train before you get to be a true Master, because playing with tiny flames isn’t going to help you in battle.  _

_ Training is going somewhat well. Adira is very much stuck to her Archive, very dedicated to her book but I really don’t know what I have to offer to you. _

_ The one thing I have learnt since I have been gifted with these powers is that if  _ **_you_ ** _ do not control your power, it may control you. Just like light and dark in fate, history, and time, there is light and dark inside of you. That must remain balanced, and Fire does not like to be controlled. It is a monster that can be tamed, only by us, and I suppose I’ll be helping you with that. _

_ I must go now, Ixue needs my help as he iced himself into the water stores again. _

_ -Calla _

“Helpful.” he muttered to himself, storing the book beside his clothes.

“Dinner!” bellowed a voice, shocking him so he fell on his but. Kai groaned and headed for the kitchen. Zane had taken on the role of chef - not surprising, the guy was a good cook, and everyone clustered around the kitchen table. 

“Zane what are you  _ wearing _ ?” cried Jay, collapsing into a fit of giggles. 

Kai swivelled from his bowl of tonkotsu ramen and almost spit out the mouthful of broth in his mouth. Zane was wearing a frilly pink apron decorated with rotating flowers, openly confused. Swallowing, Kai looked to Cole and Lloyd who both were sniggering between bites of the thin noodles.

“An apron? Jay, do you require a prescription for glasses?” Zane asked innocently, though the dry smile plastered on his face suggested otherwise.

Jay waved a hand dismissively, “No—it’s just, never thought I’d uh, see you wearing  _ that _ .”

“And why shouldn’t he?” Kai’s sister asked coldly. 

Kai went back to eating his noodles and wished he had popcorn.

“Never said he shouldn’t.” Jay replied without skipping a beat. Confidence, that was the strong note in his voice. But Jay was never seen as the confident one,  _ especially  _ when talking to Nya. “Are  _ you  _ saying he shouldn’t?”

Nya spluttered in choked anger and surprise. “Well I—I never said that! Stop twisting my words!”

“What, do you not  _ like me _ when I say that?” Jay snapped back.

Kai swiftly averted his eyes. This was way more drama than what he had expected to receive, but he was eating it up alongside his ramen. Master Wu wasn’t eating with them, though Skylor offered to take him a tray of food. Zane said that Wu had eaten before them and was meditating in one of the back rooms, ergo,  _ stay quiet _ .

“Nya, why don’t we go check on Ryu and get his next meal ready?” he suggested in an aside to the fuming girl. 

Eyes still locked with Jay’s cocky ones, Nya said through clenched teeth, “ _ Sure _ .”

He washed up his bowl, setting it chipped rim side down and guided a tense Nya to a small side room where Ryu would be staying. It was closer to Kai’s bed, actually, it was just the other side of the outside wall. Carefully opening the door, Kai snuck in and saw Ryu sleeping peacefully there in his dog bed.

“Can he sleep in my room with me?” Nya asked suddenly. Kai’s mouth clamped close - he’d just been about to ask the same question.

But Nya looked torn - hopelessly torn. Whatever the reason may be, he may not ever know. The Smith siblings rarely talked about their emotions, feelings, whatnot. When you were paraded around at your parent’s work parties, it was often hard to ridicule a pig-nosed man with your words when he was standing right in front of you.

Therefore it was their eyes that carried unspoken conversation. Blue meets green, either sparkling with laughter, raised in surprise, or, just like now, empty. Why it was empty was another question, but Nya certainly needed the comforting presence of Ryu more than he did.

“Sure. Just…”

“I know.” Nya mumbled, gently scooping Ryu in her cradled arms.

“Why do they keep leaving us?”

Cracked, her voice was cracked and Kai had to gulp so the sharpness in his throat would leave.

“What could possibly be more important to  _ us  _ than them?”

“I don’t know,” he said helplessly.

“That’s the thing, isn’t it? They keep gifting us so we don’t question it, but I can’t help but wonder why.” Nya rounded on Kai so his gaze was fixed on her silhouette from the moon’s beams. “And that is why I need  _ answers _ . Accountants do not leave their children to travel overseas for  _ work _ . There is something up with them and I intend to find out.”

A flash of white by the window passed so quickly if Kai hadn’t been avoiding his sister’s gaze he wouldn’t have noticed it. Then, half a second after, sliver flitted across the window.  _ A blade _ . 

“Get down.” he hissed, pulling on Nya’s shirt. “Someone. Is.  _ Outside _ .”

She didn’t move a single inch and Kai did the same.

The low beeping was smothered badly, as if whoever was outside the window  _ wanted  _ them to know they were there.

“This is Troya. They’re here.”

**skylor**

Her experience at the shambles of a monastery was certainly one of her more interesting days. It was now the fourth day including their arrival, so, a normal Thursday. A Thursday in which, if she had been in school, would have been dreaming of Friday since after Friday was Saturday. Yet this Thursday she was woken like every other day by noisy pots and pans clanging against each other leaving a horrible ringing in her ears.

“Alright, alright I’m up.” she grumbled to no one in particular, stumbling out of bed to the girl’s bathroom where Nya and Pixal were groggily getting ready.

“Uncle Wu’s got something special for us today—” entered a squeaky voice - Lloyd’s.

“Get out!” cried the three girls in unison.

“Alright, alright just thought you’d want to know, don’t go all angry-aunties on me.”

“Hey!” they all grumbled, but the little imp had scurried away already.

In the time that Skylor had known Lloyd, she’d always noticed the impeccable matureness he held himself with, for a kid that everyone predicted the future for. But here, in four short days he seemed...freer. More like an annoying younger brother to all of them, especially Kai and Nya. Skylor half-wished she’d been invited to stay with some friends. Being an only child and stuck in a group of intoxicating people made Skylor feel more isolated than ever. Really, everyone at the monastery had been distant the past couple of weeks. 

Skylor’s phone was playing the music - Spotify Premium, ad-free, when the loud trill for incoming calls interrupted it. 

“Sorry, I gotta take this.” Nya and Pixal bobbed their heads and Nya took over DJ for the duo.

“Hey,” she whispered in her speaker, cupping it with her hand.

“Hey babe, why are you whispering?”

“Just gotta be quiet right now, sorry.”

“It’s fine Sky, are you wearing that top I bought you on Saturday?”

“What?”

“That top I bought you, the white one?”

She looked down. “Not right now, no.”

“Oh.” 

“I’ll wear it for you today, don’t worry.” she promised quickly, not wanting another of his woeful rants to start her  _ glorious  _ day.

“‘Good, you’ll look  _ great  _ in it.”

“Call you later?”

“Sure, we can FaceTime. I miss your face.”

_ I left on Monday. I’ve FaceTimed you everyday three times and called you six, but okay. _

“Love you.” Liam said suddenly.

_ Love. You? _

“Aren’t you gonna say it back?”

“Love you.” she choked out and abruptly ended the call, frozen to the spot in the hallway.

“Love you?” smirked Kai, crossing his arms.

Her expression dropped like a stone and changed to aloofness. “What, got no one to say it to?”

“Trust me, Brittney would get bed sheets made if I told her I loved her.” he rolled his eyes in dry response.

“Li would probably spell it out in rose petals for me if I was at home.” she said, not exactly sure whether it was a good thing or not.

“ _ Li _ ?” Kai snorted disbelievingly.

“Oh please, like  _ Brit-Brit  _ doesn’t want a nickname from you.”

His mouth opened a couple of times before settling on, “Leech. Or Brit-Leech. She’s so attached.”

“You shouldn’t say that.” Skylor said sharply. Brittney was one of Harumi’s friends, a tiny bit obsessive and ditzy, but seemed nice.

Kai got out his phone and opened up a photo of their wedding pinterest board.

“Alright, that is somewhat true.” She sighed and rubbed at her temples. “I need some of that tea Wu’s giving us.”

“Yeah.” Kai agreed distantly. “We better go see what Lloyd was shouting about.”

An awkward goodbye followed and Skylor ducked into her room, changing into the top Liam had bought her. She was a thin beanpole - always had been, flat chested and a door shape in general, and Skylor generally had worn old Master Chen’s Noodles merch in the biggest size possible. She just felt awkward in anything else, but lately Liam and Harumi were persuading her with flashy smiles and encouraging words.

Skylor emerged from her room ten minutes later, not wearing the top, rather a ratty red Chen’s shirt from their big festival line. Everyone met in the kitchen to grab their daily cup of tea, green herbal with thin shavings of a mineral that Wu said helped clear their mind - and it did, muting everything in the background so Skylor’s thoughts could focus.

Today’s breakfast was porridge, made by Cole which Skylor stealthily steered clear of, munching on a butter-loaded piece of toast along with her tea. After washing up, Skylor popped her head into the biggest meditation room so that Wu could give them the something special Lloyd had mentioned. She, Nya and Pixal left first, talking about Ryu’s adventures and how he’d warmed up to everyone but Wu. Wu took it well, mentioning that dogs had never liked him, but cats were his good friends and he’d had a tabby when he was younger.

Settled on a zafu, a round cushion specially designed for meditation, the girls took up three of nine cushions arranged in a circle. The others slowly strolled in, Lloyd and Cole, then Jay, Kai and Cole, and finally, Master Wu. It felt strange saying Master, but it strangely fit the wise man. He was carrying a tall box which he set down next to his cushion, arranging himself into a cross-legged posture, back ram-rod straight.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering what I have to give to you today, as my nephew would have let you know.” Wu dipped into the cardboard box and everyone rose to their knees, but Wu clucked his tongue and their buttocks returned to their cushions. “Your clothes have arrived.”

He handed out neatly folded clothes packaged in plastic, shooing them off to try them on and to meet him in the courtyard. Skylor hurried to her room, tearing away the packaging excitedly. The fabric was soft and coloured a vivid orange, which gladly, was the only orange in the world that didn’t clash with her red hair. The clothes turned out to be a set of robes, the top two layered pieces of fabric pleated from the diagonal running across the right hip to the left shoulder. Her sleeves hung to her elbows with plenty of room to move around in. A sash of black ran around the waist, separating the top from the fabric that was sort of a skirt but also not. The pants were loose fitting, just like the shirt and preferable for Skylor. It had been nerve racking even stepping out of the house in some of the shirts Harumi and Liam had chosen her for her.

Quickly changing into the robe, Skylor tied the sash and then pulled her hair into a ponytail to keep it out of her face. She heard a thud from the other hallway and loud shouting as she exited her room, carefully sliding the fragile paper-thin door to a shut. The courtyard of the monastery was made up of stones all sanded to the same level, the cracks filled in and a light layer of sand over it. Near the entrance was a thin podium rimmed with red and a golden dragon perched on top.

Master Wu stood by it, Jay and Zane already there. Eventually everyone else came out, walking into a straggly line of uniform.

“Will someone please explain why we look like a  _ packet of fucking Skittles _ ?” 

“Kai!”

“I speak the truth.”

“I mean, he’s kinda right”

“Aren’t M&M’s more accurate though?”

“The swearing wasn’t necessary!”

“It’s always necessary. I’m a naturally dramatic person—”

“ _ Students _ .”

Wu’s tone was whip sharp and lashed out to all of them in quiet principal disappointment. He heaved a sigh, his staff appearing in his hand again.

“The robes you are wearing are what you will be wearing as uniform for the next week and a half. You should get used to moving around in them and practicing your sunrise exercises which will be effective immediately.” Wu pointed his staff at each of them. “Stand feet shoulder width apart in what we shall call  _ rest _ .”

Everyone slowly moved to his orders as he snapped them into two rows of four. Kai, Nya, Lloyd and Zane were in the front, Skylor, Cole, Pixal and Jay in the back.

“Into a lunge, extending one arm forward with your palm outstretched. Hold for ten seconds and switch sides. This is  _ Reaching Grasshopper _ .”

And it continued like that for an hour until her back screamed protest as she stretched forward into  _ Reading Crane  _ or  _ Kayaking Elephant _ . Wu let them go for showers when the sun was nearly directly above them in the sky. Skylor checked her phone for any messages and saw three missed calls from Liam and two from her dad.

_ I’ll get to them later. Right now, I really need a shower. _

**A/N: the INSANE amount of research i did on monk robes is *crazy* but i’m like that. The robes are heavily inspired by the robes which shaolin monks wear (the specific name i tried to find for hours but i didnt find it ugh.) by the time i post this school would have long started but writing this a week before it starts i am officially terrified. Preparing for my brain to by melted alive is not an exciting prospect trust m e. I don’t have much to say because im really hungry and petty rn :)**

**Ayyy this is monday dommie, god i was so cranky writing that. Im getting ideas for the third book and the name ‘The World On Fire’ sounds pretty good to me. It’s just shortened from the song ‘I don’t want to set the world on fire’. Im pretty happy with rtw (to rule the world)’s new cover! So the Songs of Death series goes: moral of the story, to rule the world, and the world on fire so far. Knowing me ill change some stuff but there’s an update!**

**-dommie out**


	33. [31] tea is never just tea kai, you stupid mf

**lloyd**

“Don’t be stupid! Go right go right go right  _ rightrightright _ !”

“I’m going right!” he yelled back, hunched over his controller with his eyes blazing madly. “Jay, get out of my way!”

“Try again green bean!” Jay whooped back triumphantly, bumping Lloyd’s car out of the way and zooming to the finish line.

“NO!” he whined, throwing down the controller in a fit of rage. “Jay cheated, Nya!”

“No, Jay’s just got talent.” smirked Jay cockily. 

Lloyd threw himself over the edge of the couch and landed on the beanbags with a dramatic moan of pain. 

“I’ll never drive again! I’ll be like Doc from the Cars movie and hide in a small town until one day, when I’ll take on a worthy protégé—”

“Tea time!” announced Pixal cheerily, walking in with eight teacups of steaming tea on a tray. 

Lloyd rolled onto his back and leapt to his feet, reaching for the tea and then reclaimed his spot on the floor, relishing in the warmth and clarity the tea brought as everything around him was muffled. He let out a relaxed sigh, watching as Skylor asked Zane to chill her tea. Zane responded, concentrating hard, but only produced a spark of ice before it fizzled out.

“I apologise,” frowned the android. “My powers have not been working effectively recently.”

“Neither have mine,” Kai admitted, throwing his hand out expectantly. “See? No fire at all.”

Cole jumped around the room like a hyper bunny and gestured wildly at the floor. “No rocks either.”

Everyone looked to Jay, who was hogging the plate of butter cookies.

“What? Nothing for me, I just get electrocuted less when I touch anything.” he mumbled through a mouthful of cookies. Lloyd snatched one off the plate and scrambled back to his place with a quick glance to Pixal and Skylor. AKA, the ‘no-power-signs-or-really-no-power-at-all’ gang. Apart from the strange day when his father had shown up, nothing else had happened. 

“I fear it is the work of my brother.”

“Uncle Wu? How’d you get in here—” Lloyd choked on his cookie, looking up at his uncle starting at him from above. Wu silenced him with an authoritative glare.

“My brother, as you know, is the leader of the infamous  _ Sons of Garmadon _ gang that runs havoc in our city’s streets.” He paused there as if to check if everyone knew who Garmadon was. Of course they did, but it was just plain awkward having his brother  _ and  _ son in the same room. “I’ve received word that he’s received a ‘top secret weapon’, which I infer as another elemental master.”

“Who?” everyone blurted immediately. Wu shook his head.

“ _ Who  _ is an entirely different question.  _ Why  _ would be a better query, for my brother has never been one with good intentions. He is ruthless, and merciless.” Wu gave Lloyd an apologetic look which he ignored. The thing about having a criminal lord as your father was that it was incredibly easy to pretend that he was anything but. “He’s been sitting in the dirty streets of power now, and he, undeniably, wants  _ more _ .”

“More as in?” 

“More as in Emperor.”

Lloyd started wheezing and rolled off bean bug clutching at his stomach. “ _ No _ way, sorry Wu, but you’re obviously deluded.”

“I am not deluded, Lloyd. My brother stops for  _ nothing  _ and he grows impatient on a throne that does not fit him anymore. Lord Garmadon  _ will  _ rise and he is—” Wu’s voice caught there. “My brother possesses the element of Destruction. He knows nothing but it and I have experienced his wrath.”

Wu pulled on the shoulder of his robe and everyone sucked in a gasp. A cruel scar crawled across his shoulder, aged, definitely, but it looked painful. Lloyd closed his mouth, seeing the pain in his uncle’s eyes. He’d known his whole life that his father was a bad man, but just knowing he had the power of Destruction, something so dark and desolate... if he could change his last name, he wouldn’t need second thoughts.

“What can we do? To stop him?” Cole demanded, shooting determined looks to everyone. “We have the power, the elements to stop him, we can  _ do  _ something about him.”

“We’re just teenagers, Cole.” Jay replied, casting an uneasy glance around the room for allies. “We’d be risking our lives, even Master Wu couldn’t defeat Garmadon. No offence, Master.”

“I may take some, young Walker, for I was naive when I tried to stop my brother’s rule. I was brash and I needed to stop him. Despite that, Jay is right. You’re just teenagers, your powers are only showing  _ signs  _ and Garmadon has a powerful elemental on his side. I am taking careful measures to delay this until your powers are strong enough that you can use them, but for now, cultivate what you can get, and drink your tea.”

“What is  _ tea  _ going to do?” Kai scoffed, yet he still drank from the cup in his hands. “It’s just tea.”

“Tea is never  _ just tea _ , Kai.” Wu reprimanded strictly. “For example, the shavings in this blend? It’s from a black stone named Amnestone, closely related to Vengestone, a material that nullifies powers if used as chains and such. But Amnestone does the opposite. It speeds up an elemental master’s growth to their power, and as you’ve experienced, mutes everything around you so you can focus. Pixal has been helping me with the shavings.” 

Pixal nodded. “Amnestone is certainly interesting. There are no scrolls or texts on it because it’s such a recent discovery.”

“Which reiterates my point. Shortly after your return to Ninjago High, I will be embarking on a journey to find a powerful relic that may be able to stop Lord Garmadon. Pixal will take over your meditation and exercises while I’ve been gone, and you can use that nifty room of yours behind your lockers.”

“You know about that?” Lloyd spluttered.  _ And the beanbags I stole from you to put in there? _

“Why do you think I assigned you that corridor?” Wu asked dryly. “Your training is important, and everything you can use should be valued greatly.”

“Right.” he mumbled, curling in on himself. Wu left the room silently, leaving it considerably more awkward than when he’d entered.

Someone’s phone started ringing loudly and Skylor sighed, shuffling outside to pick it up. Nya and Pixal exchanged a glance as Lloyd’s gaze landed on the abandoned controllers.

“Anyone up for a game?”

**astra**

“Stop trying to kill me!”

“No!”

“Aw man, c’mon Rip— _ fuck _ !” Astra weaved to one side as the blade flashed past. Her mentor flicked his wrist back, sheathing his training katana easily. “Why can’t Troya come back and train me? She’s been on the mission for like, four days.”

“It’s up near Jamanaki Village, Rea,” Riptide gestured for her to store away her sword and to wipe down the mats and pick up her bow. “It’s a four hour drive there and back, and she wants to make the most of her trip there.”

She nodded lightly, changing her stance to ready for shooting. Astra was currently using an optic, but Tellum earlier had stated that once she was comfortable with it, she’d be doing without one to lose weight in battle. Plus, it was good to gauge distance with just the naked eye even when she wasn’t shooting. Astra cocked the crossbow with a grunt, and loaded the barrel with a training bolt, aligning the vane with the barrel channel. The arrow was longer than normal for a crossbow seeing as she needed the bolts to double as arrows when she switched over to a normal bow, but Tellum had given her a pouch of shorter bolts to use if need be.

“Stance.” Riptide warned from the sideline. Even though he was currently mentoring in the art of the katana, Tellum had been too busy making and inventing new weapons to train her after introductory lessons. She adjusted her shoulders and legs instinctively, lifting the bow up so she could peer through the optic. Sucking in a measured breath, the crossbow stopped wavering and stilled as she concentrated on the target and once her confidence assured her she was in line, she squeezed the trigger.

“Follow through.” Riptide reminded her again, and Astra did exactly that, only checking the target once she’d completed the finishing sequence. The bolt had pierced the board in the seventh ring, the outermost of the red zone.

“Could be better.” Riptide remarked, striding over to peer at her shot. “Not bad on your stance, just watch your shoulders. You’re doing well, kid.”

“A rare compliment! What shall I do?” Astra replied dryly, yanking the bolt out. “Thanks, anyway.” Riptide, funnily enough, had become something of an older brother while Cassie had been away.

He swatted her on the back of the head. “Get back to shooting. You aren’t half as good as—”

“Yes, you, Mr Supreme, I get it.” she drawled as she stalked back to the line. Obi was doing something special with her cast, slowly taking off layers since the healing process was almost completed. Now Astra could walk on it, and her crutches were in the past.

She ended up taking twenty more shots with the crossbow, then switched over to her normal bow and did twenty shots with those, rotating between the two bow types and distances for several rounds. They finally finished at four-thirty, cleaning the equipment and Astra stored her bow and katana away in her locker, her next destination cafeteria before her elemental training.

Astra walked the passage to the cafeteria in contemplative silence when a loud clanging drew her attention away from plotting to get out of training. There appeared to be nothing on the wall from where the noise came from, but a few steps forward confirmed it was coming from there. The clanging persisted as Astra poked experimentally at the panels on the wall, half hoping a door would pop open so she could tell whoever was banging away to shut the hell up.

“Come on.” she pressed her fingertips harder to the right of the panel and jumped back as the panel opened just a centimetre wide. “Secret door. Nice.”

She opened it fully and shut it carefully behind it and finally caught sight of the room where the clanging was coming from. It was a sort of workshop, with sound paneling on the walls which evidently did not work, and lots of large tables and boxes overflowing with metal parts. The only other person there was wearing a welding helmet, setting down the hammer to pick up a welding gun. They were kitted out in the generic SOG attire, easy to move in clothes, a shirt and pants, but a dark apron covering both.

“Hey uh—”

“Crap! Where did you come from? I thought I turned on the sound proofing…”

“Well, you didn’t.” Astra snorted, taking a cautious step closer. “Who are you? Does Big G know you’re here?”

“Big G? Oh, you mean Garmadon, yeah he knows I’m here. I’m Titanium. Who are  _ you _ ?”

“I’m Reaper. What are you doing here?” Astra stood on her tippy toes to see over him but he was lanky and tall, and swiftly stepped to cover his project.

“Just working on some stuff.”

“Stuff?” she narrowed her eyes, searching the room for other clues.  _ Small things _ , Thorn, her GA mentor had said,  _ especially if people are in a rush, they’ll panic.  _

“Animatronics.” Titanium revealed easily, stepping aside. Astra arched a brow at the quick collapse of secrecy, but looked closer. A metal duck stood on the tabletop, the beak gleaming under light and made out of metal, like the rest of it was. 

“And you made this for what?” 

“Dunno. For fun, I guess. I finished working on a couple of hounds last week so Lord told me I could get the week off.”

“Cool.” Astra moved away from the robot duck, making a mental note to keep it in her peripheral incase it came to life and attacked her or something. “I’ve never heard of you around HQ.”

“I’ve never heard of you either.” he said, much more amiably than her suspicious tone.

“New recruit.” 

“Ah. I’m in my workshop most of the time and I don’t sleep in the dorms, I have my own quarters. That’s probably why, plus I’m not training to be an assassin or a super soldier or anything.”

“Who said anything about me being an assassin?” she barked out in laughter. “No, I just got into some trouble and I didn’t want to be home, so I’m here, I guess.”

“Oh. Well, I’m just an inventor for the Sons of Garmadon so I doubt you’ll see me much.”

“I’ll come visit,” she offered. “These animatronics look cool and you seem to be the only kid around my age who doesn’t seem like a violent killer.” Her glance changed to her watch. “Shit, I gotta go. Elemental training and stuff.”

“Wait, you have an elemental power too—”

“Goodbye weird duck making guy!” she yelled over the top of him, sprinting out as fast as she could so Garmadon wouldn’t make her do extra exercises. 

o o o

Five minutes later Astra rose from sitting on a zafu, eyes closed and breathing steady.

“Reaper, I’d like to know why you were late.”

_ Ah, crap. _

“I was just meeting someone.”

“I gather Titanium showed you his duck?”

“ _ Dude _ ? Are you psychic or something?”

“No, I simply assumed that since he was banging away without his soundproofing that you’d find out. Rotate.”

By his last words, Astra, still with her eyes closed, hopped on her right leg ninety degrees to the right, her arms outstretched with rocks balanced in the palms of her hands. This was supposed to centre her or something, but she was still confused why there was a boy in the walls with a metal duck. Nothing had happened since her outburst that nearly hit Obi at her check up, but Garmadon insisted her power was there - and that it was indeed Death.

She found just accepting it and everything else weird that had come into her life worked well as a coping strategy, and rotated once again before the exercise completed. Astra sat down again and watched carefully as Garmadon pulled out three picnic baskets, except she was pretty sure what was in there wasn’t food. A shame, but her interest piqued as Garmadon commanded a strand of Destruction to melt away the cover on the first basket.

“Hold this.” He threw her the rock and she struck out an arm, catching it just before it hit the floor.

“Now think of your parents.”

“Why—”

“Think of your parents.”

Deciding not to argue with the man polishing a katana at the moment, Astra cupped the rock in her hand and let her mind flit back to a memory of her parents.

_ “Weakness is not appreciated for losers, Astra. Cassie’s awards are proudly standing in the front hall, yet you…” Her mother let out a tight sigh. “What money did you make from bake sales? Enough to cover your rent?” _

_ She looked down at the measly crumple of cash in her hand. “No. Sorry, I—” _

_ “You can cook the rest of the week's dinner and do the laundry, and extra of your chores, that should make up for it.” _

_ Like Astra didn’t anyway, her parents were too busy and occupied with themselves and yelling at each other to bother cooking or doing household chores. “Sure.” _

_ “Young lady, the disrespect I can hear in your tone is unacceptable. God, why did I have you?” _

_ Astra considered answering, but her mother shoved her into the kitchen, her acrylics digging into her shoulder painfully. _

_ “Get going, if there’s one thing bright about your future, it’s that you can cook and stay in the kitchen like you belong.” _

_ “What the hell does that mean?” she blurted out, wrenching her shoulder out of Mother Harlow’s grip. “I’m meant to be in the kitchen? I  _ like  _ cooking, and I’m not about to do it for some  _ man _ who won’t even appreciate it.” _

_ “You will if you know what’s good for you. That’s all women are good for, Astra, and since you can’t live up to Cassie, your grades, or your clubs, or your behaviour or awards? That’s all that’s left for you. Pathetic little thing, I can’t believe I—” _

“SHUT  _ UP _ .”

_ Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up. _

“You’ve done well.”

_ Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up. _

“Open your eyes Astra, and witness what your power can truly do.”

_ Worthless, you are nothing, pathetic little bitch, get back in the kitchen, waste of space— _

“CONTROL IT.” Garmadon yelled suddenly, and Astra screamed as her eyes opened, purple flames the size of a bonfire roaring and tearing at the floor wildly. “Only you can control it, your element is untamed and it—”

“ _ Shut up shut up shut up shut up _ .” 

_ I can’t do this. I can’t do this. Please stop it. Someone stop it, it’s killing me, it’s killing me _ —

The thunder in her ears stopped, cleaved by a blade of silence. And disappointment, it was disappointment lingering in the air, she knew what that felt like and she refused to open her eyes, drawing in shaky breaths as she rocked herself back and forth, desperate for something that had a pattern, or a beat and some routine to comfort herself in.

“Troya arrived five minutes ago.” Garmadon finally said. “You are excused from elemental training today.”

_ Cassie _ . Cassie was here, she could help her. But Cassie - Cassie was the reason why Astra’s parents were so shit. Then a twang of guilt in her chest. How could she blame Cassie for arguing and abuse she couldn’t control? She opened her eyes and stared at her hands. They looked completely normal, void of the terrible dark flames that had almost devoured the room.

“Thanks, Big G. Really gonna help.” she eventually muttered in a croaky voice. “I’m not doing this again.”

And then she left.

**A/N: bitches be like: dommie???? You used that basket exercise in cos??? Why are you reusing it??? Because i dont have the braincells, duh. I didnt even finish it, we love angst instead. Big g really got some plans up his sleeve, but like why nearly kill bro? I uh. Writing this rn were’ on 3.13k which compeltely amazes me and i am also here to tell you that this book is gonna be 40+chapters without announcements i just realised god im shit at planning lmao.**

**Titanium is a close friend’s oc, and you’ll see plenty of him soon and in lmu, so cheers to that! Have a great day everyone!**

**-dommie out**


	34. [32] making cinnamon rolls in a semi cottagecore kitchen

**cole**

He was banned from the monastery kitchen for the next forty-eight hours.

Apparently his popcorn making skills were lacking, or in general, any of his cooking skills failed to please his friends. Tuesday’s movie night had turned sour in mood and burnt in smell. Partially, okay,  _ all  _ his fault but in his defence how did it not make sense to put three bags in to reduce overall cooking time? Their second week of ‘camp’ brought nothing more exciting than what they’d already done in the first week, apart from Wu starting to teach them basic defence moves in an ancient Ninjagon art.

Cole stretched along with the others at sunrise in his robe, the black material swishing with him as he switched poses along with Wu’s calls.

“With the earth Cole, you  _ are  _ the earth. Draw strength from the ground and use it to your advantage.” Cole nodded discreetly in subtle response.

He refocused his efforts into concentrating on the ground beneath him, digging his heels into the powder sand and redoubling his efforts. His mind eventually began to wander as his body fell into a rhythmic pattern. The Archive of Earth and his mother’s diary were interesting books to read, but he felt like something was missing. Like there was a key inside of him that needed to be found, then a lock to open and a mystery behind the door. 

Training was a strange affair. What they were training _for_ might have given others more incentive, since their future purpose as elementals was a vague haze provided by Master Wu. Cole had wanted to do something about Lord Garmadon, because it seemed selfish to not use these gifts to save lives. But his control over his powers had been wavering lately.

When he’d confronted Wu in concern for an answer, the wise sensei had nodded and gestured around him mystically.

“Your body is adjusting to your powers awakening. The strength and control you have over it will change depending on how it fluctuates. Unfortunately, you have no control over this. I know it is frustrating, I myself was frustrated when my powers first came, and I assure you that your friends are feeling the same.”

At least his rock buddies had stopped sprouting, but, being entirely honest, Cole kinda missed dredging up rocks and pebbles wherever he walked. He spent a lot of his spare time free-climbing around the mountain, forming an improv chalk and then belting it to his waist to help him when he climbed. When he’d been younger and the Brookstones travelled out of the city for holidays, climbing was always a fun activity. It helped to keep him focused since he was risking his life, but he enjoyed it. 

Two hours after sunrise, Cole snagged a shower and then disappeared into his room to browse back through both books. He was still stuck on Adira’s entry. The Earth Archive was thin to sight, but as Cole flipped through it, more and more pages appeared like magic. Cole would have liked to know Adira. She seemed a person of steady reason and was logical in thought process.

Cole flicked through the random pages of his mother’s diary and landed by chance on one.

**_Lily’s Diary_ **

_ He’s big for a baby, I must admit, but my stars, he’s the light of my life. His eyes come from his father, that’s for sure. And with his lungs, Lou will be sure to get him into dancing and singing as soon as he can walk. Cole is a miracle. Our troubles with pregnancy and all gave me no hope, and then...he’s perfect. Ninjago City is a big step for us, especially with a baby, but we must get away from him. It pains me that I can’t tell anyone else, but if I did, that would put us all in danger. _

_   
_ _ Secrets, I’ve found, vary in strength. This one may doom us all or win us victory, but it is the latter which I intend to be our outcome. If I live to see it, anyway. I have been diagnosed with an...unknown illness that has taken root in me after I gave birth to Cole. Luckily, the doctors have identified it early and are trying to find a solution. They have given me an estimate, worse-case scenario, I have seven precious years with my boys. _

_ It seems like a long time, seven years. Cole will be in his first year of proper school, and if Lou’s plans for the Royal Blacksmith’s take off as projected, their career should be well on their way. I’m going to treasure every second I have with them, it’s cheesy, but it’s what I have. They’re my boys, and I’ll never stop loving them. _

_ -Lily _

Seven years.

She’d been given seven years to live and Cole had taken them for granted, expecting her to stay very much alive for  _ him _ . 

He shakily closed his mother’s diary and leant back against the wall, trying to keep his body from shaking as tears welled in his eyes. She was sick because of  _ him _ . His mother had died, she’d written in those pages that  _ after she’d given birth to him, she was diagnosed. _

“I killed her.” he whispered, the realisation stabbing him in the chest. “I... _ I  _ killed her.”

There was a rustle from beside him, and so vulnerable, he ducked under his covers and lay still. A warm body wriggled through the gap, and Cole was face to face with the Smith’s little puppy. 

“I killed her, Ryu.” he finally managed to choke out. “She got sick because of me. I killed her and I didn’t even know.”

Ryu yawned and snuggled into the crook of his shoulder, ignoring the salty tears slowly trickling down Cole’s face. His body stopped reacting to his cries and went numb, the pain slipped away and Cole went numb.

Sometimes feeling nothing hurts more than feeling everything.

**pixal**

She gave the pot two quick stirs with the chopstick and watched carefully to make sure the pasta was cooking properly. Her chin jutted over Zane’s shoulder as she stood on a kitchen stool to peer at the sauce simmering on the stovetop. The corner of Zane’s lips lifted in a soft smile, eyebrows in hopeful request and Pixal handed him the spatula with a laugh, poking him in the side so she could drain the pasta.

Spirals, because half of them were basically kids and spirals were the most voted for. The big saucepan had enough to feed all of them, twice over, and the sauce was homemade by Pixal and Zane. Jazz hummed softly in the background, the small kitchen bathed in warm light. The hanging plants created by Nya and Lloyd in a burst of inspiration curled down from the ceiling, snaking down to the windowsill. 

Dinner eventually finished as everyone hooted in laughter at Zane’s now-iconic apron, washing and cleaning up while tripping over each other. Only Cole was missing, but the silence when Lloyd had knocked on the elemental’s door served enough as an answer. Zane persuaded Pixal to join him in the kitchen for late night cinnamon roll baking, and she sat at the kitchen table methodically rolling cinnamon roll logs, her fuzzy-sock covered feet propped up underneath the table on Zane’s knees. Once all the pans were in the oven, Zane picked up a crocheting project and Pixal carefully continued shaving curls off an Amnestone rock.

She switched it out for helping Zane with the glaze for the rolls, the lights from the living room flashing through the paper doors brightly as the nightly video game contest continued loudly. Thursday night was just like every other on their little holiday, except Pixal and Zane surprised the others with baked goods and then proceeded to crush the other duos with their analytical gameplay.

Pixal went to bed that night with a smile on her face.

It was strange how the best things ended so quickly. Friday and Saturday whipped past so quickly Pixal hardly felt like she appreciated their two week trip to the monastery properly. Everyone had changed since their arrival. Kai, Nya and Lloyd solidified as the sibling trio, nicknaming themselves the Three Musketeers, or, the Three Blind Mice as Jay had snickered. Cole was subdued strangely, retreating to his room and rarely coming out for meals. He only came out for long periods of time to train along with the others.

Pixal had enjoyed the extra time she’d spent with Zane baking and reading in each other’s presence, for they did not need words to express themselves. Her relationship with her dad was beginning to slowly rebuild the trust that had been snapped over calls and video calls when she was exhausted after training. Pixal and Skylor were slowly trying to egg Nya on when it became increasingly obvious that Nya had a crush on Jay.

Only three people remained oblivious to the fact that Nya liked Jay. Kai, Nya, and Jay respectively. Despite this, Nya and Jay bickered everyday for some unknown reason, but Nya stubbornly refused to tell  _ anyone  _ except Cole, who Skylor and Pixal had pegged as her wingman. Her thoughts wandered freely as she continued packing her bags on Sunday morning, adjusting everything to fit properly. Ryu momentarily dashed in, his bout of energy had the little puppy dancing around her legs boisterously before crashing out of the door madly.

Loud yelling and laughing followed the little puppy’s race through the corridors as Pixal carried her bags to the minivan. She let out a hoarse mixture of a laugh and a sigh at the messy pile of bags heaped beside the boot of the van. Sorting through everything, she packed the van with a meticulous eye to save space. Wu chased everyone out, handing them a packet of biscuits and a tumblr of Amnestone tea for the journey ahead and locking the monastery gate behind them.

Pixal cast one last look up the mountain to where one could see the gold of the arch peek over the top, smiling fondly at the memories before sliding into the minivan and popping in her headphones, handing the other ear to Zane and tearing an old cinnamon roll in thirds to share with the girls.

They stopped at Jamanaki again for a shorter visit to wander about and do some stretching, hopping back in the van for the rest of the ride after a toilet break. Pixal made a mental note that the Amnestone tea encouraged frequent urination as the cost. Luckily Pixal didn’t have to drink it, as they had to stop several times to let Ryu out in a safe area and to use the toilet. 

It was about four in the afternoon when they rolled into the centre of Ninjago City. Jay claimed he was taking the bus back to his house, Lloyd, Nya and Kai were walking home, and Skylor was getting picked up, with Cole and Zane taking the bus back to their respective house. Pixal waved and hugged everyone goodbye when Master Wu pulled her aside, a hastily hidden troubled expression flitting across his face.

“Master Wu?”

“Pixal, I will be going away for several weeks to find something that can defeat my brother. He plans to take out the Emperor and the Empress when he has the forces, and when the elemental he has is trained properly. I need you to continue giving everyone tea and training them in exercises, as well as their basic defense moves. I can trust you, but you must promise me that you will continue this.” 

“Yes, of course, Master Wu.” her brows furrowed in confusion. He talked about the trip like he wasn’t coming back.

He released a relieved breath, his hand clasped over his heart. “Thank you. I will not be in school tomorrow, but a new history teacher is coming. His name is Vance Spirdon, and you must trust him.” Wu shuddered and a hand crept up to where his scar lay. “He is a double agent for the Sons of Garmadon and has been feeding me essential information so I could time this trip correctly. Trust him, and all will be well.”

“I will, Master Wu.”

_ Vance Spirdon _ , she mused to herself as she set off for Borg Tower.  _ All will be well. _

_ All will be well. _

**jay**

“Ma? Pa? I’m home!”

“Jay!” choroused two familiar voices, arms crushing him in a hug.

“How was the trip Jay? Did you pack enough underwear? My, you look a little thin, let me go heat up that—”

“Ma, I’m fine.” He grinned, checking over his parents quickly. Everything seemed the same. “How were you guys? Pa, did you get any new cars since, oh, the last thirty minutes since I’ve called you?”

Edna patted his cheek lovingly, ushering him inside. Ed handed Jay a sketch pad and gestured to a cluttered pile of parts at the doorstep of the trailer.

“I drafted up some designs for your wing lifters, but I think it’s best if ya look over summa the measurements since I swear you’ve grown since we last saw you.”

Jay chuckled and sat down at the table, legs swinging as he examined the notes.

“No, they all seem pretty good Pa.” His gaze landed on the tall stack of mail in the floating cubby. “Any mail for me?”

Edna hummed as she sorted through the stack. “Oh yes, I remember seeing this one. From that Fritz Donnegan fellow, whose car we fixed. You remember him, Jay?”

_ Fritz Donnegan.  _ Jay numbly took the envelope from his mother, staring at the neat print.  _ Had he found out about the videos?  _

“Thanks.” he murmured, standing up and heading for his room on autopilot. “I’ll...yeah.”

His fringe fell into his eyes before he swiped it away, still petrified at the name on the front, the stamp and the address, and even  _ more  _ scared about the contents. Because Fritz freaking Donnegan had mailed him and there was absolutely no connection between him and the moviestar except his fanboy self and those videos. Jay hadn’t posted on that account since his last video, but his likes, shares and following had grown like he’d bought a follower bot or something.

“Come on Jay, you can open it. It’s just an envelope, what’s it gonna do? Bite you?’ he laughed to himself and then grimaced.  _ Three, two, one, and open!  _ He quickly slid his finger under the flap and extracted the paper within it, unfolding it clumsily with his eyes squeezed close.

Jay paused unsurely for a beat, and then snapped his eyes and the letter open, scanning it quickly while his heartbeat beat a sharp staccato with every breath.

_ Dear Mr Walker, _

_ On behalf of Mr Donnegan, I am writing to you about the videos you have posted on the social media app TikTok. Two of these videos have gone ‘viral’ and gained you a noticeable amount of followers and a presence on social media. Despite your short-lived success, I’m afraid to say that you have broken the contract signed by your parents, Ed and Edna Walker upon accepting our request of signing a NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Mr Donnegan will be calling you on Thursday at 4:00pm CNT (Central Ninjago Time) to discuss this matter. _

_ Kind regards, _

_ Michelle Rezzerstan, _

_ Secretary to Fritz Donnegan, _

_ Donnegan Cinematic Studios (DCS) _

“Oh...I fucked up.” Jay moaned, falling back onto his bed. “Fritz Donnegan wants to talk to  _ me _ .” Then he bolted upright. “Fritz Donnegan wants to talk to  _ me! _ ”

His very loud conflicting thoughts were arguing as to whether this call was a good or bad thing, but it ultimately meant that he, Jay Walker, would be talking to his childhood (and current) hero, and what could be more pog than that?

o o o

Time can either crawl or naruto run depending on how good the week ahead would be.

Jay found that this week was a strange mixture of both. On Monday morning, they’d had an assembly run by the Vice-Principal to announce their new sub-history teacher to Ninjago High. Jay took note of that, since he had History last period and Mr Spirdon looked fairly relaxed and likable, a paper coffee cup crushed in one hand and his hair ruffled.

Jay’s quick judgement was proven right. By lunch time, the whole school was raving about the new teacher, and Jay was amused at the small collection of fangirls he’d collected. His mind kept crossing back to the letter and their little trip, which, surprisingly, few questioned them about. He walked into History, subtly shocked at how the desks had been cleared to the very back of the room in neat rows. There was a large rug on the floor with big circles, and low rap music in the background.

Mr Spirdon had his feet kicked up on his desk and fell off abruptly when Jay walked in.

“Hey kiddo, you’re early,” the teacher glanced at his watch, still on the floor. “Wait, no, my watch is just behind on time. Leave your bag on a desk and come sit on the floor and we’ll wait for the rest of the pack to come in.”

Jay did as instructed, sitting down awkwardly and staring at the blank whiteboard.

“So uh, how come you’re coming in so late in the year?”

“Your other history teacher left.” Mr Spirdon climbed back onto his chair and took a large chug of coffee. “Did you not notice?”

“Oh. Right, sorry ‘bout that Mr Spirdon.” 

Said teacher wrinkled his nose. “Just call me Vance. How was—” 

“Ayyyyy, Mr Spirdon!” boomed Chad, strolling into the classroom with his cronies flanking him. “Hope you weren’t getting bored to death by that crime-dealing  _ jaywalker _ over here.”

Mr Spirdon remained silent for a beat and then looked back at Jay with a devious smile. “Can you show these kind, generous, unique, sophisticated, talented, humble men what to do, Jay?”

Jay grinned back. This new teacher seemed pretty cool.

**A/N: BNWRUGBOU WE HIT 80K WORDS ON THIS CHAPTER POGS IN THE COMMENTS. AND POG WE ALSO HIT 200 PAGES DOUBLE MILESTONE BABY. Okay, I know cole’s part is short, but bich, we gotta get that** **_angst_ ** **in there huh? Someone please draw pixal and zane in a cottage core kitchen with them like baking cinnamon rolls or something and zane in pink apron and yes pelase. Now you’re thinking, damn, this is a shit chapter, and yes, my readers, i agree totally. I changed pov’s so many times but like PICKING SHIT UP I WALWAYS FWFNIWONFUEWNUO.**

**Also yes i had to do that to cole. Did i plan it? No siree. I have a one week break in which i will be churning out as much writing as possible to get ahead, so, cheers!**

**-dommie out**


	35. [33] destroying toilets is considered angst, right?

**zane**

Home, according to a basic definition, was ‘A place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.’

Zane was still figuring what, or who home was to him.

However, there were two facts that were very clear to him.

One. His father had lied to him.  _ For  _ him.

Two. He couldn’t change himself being an android.

And with that information, he was slowly changing his definition of home to ‘Evan, Father, and Pixal’. The three people who he could trust with everything, the three people who had been through everything, the two people who had lied, who had tricked him, and he was taking that leap to trust two of them.

Having a younger brother was a new experience. Zane had analysed Kai, Nya and Lloyd’s sibling relationship and found it consisted mostly of roughhousing, yelling, or searching for Ryu. But Evan was a quiet kid. He liked to hang out in the tiny library, one of two wonders in the Julien household, reading books or helping Zane with cooking dinner. When Zane had arrived home, he’d been tackled into one of the tightest hugs he’d ever lived through.

“I thought you’d left me.” Evan had mumbled.

Zane’s core panged with guilt. “I would never leave you. You’re family. I required adequate time to think things out. To recuperate.”

From then on, it was like he’d never left. Chess competitions were held once every other day, Zane made dinner with Evan, and they fixed up the old TV to watch late night specials. He was working on filling out Evan’s application to Ninjago High exactly one week since they’d left the monastery on a Sunday night, filling in all the details with a documentary playing in the background.

Evan was certainly bright, he’d passed the basic entrance test into a grade a year below Zane’s and was due to start Ninjago High on Tuesday once the application was filed through. Whatever house he got didn’t matter to Zane, though it might to the student body. The Dragons had won the athletics carnival, a narrow win over the Serpents since Kai hadn’t been around to rake extra points in.

Evan had had Mr Spirdon - or Vance, as the teacher insisted everyone call him, first period on his first day, and Zane was glad to know he was in good hands. Mr Spirdon was an excellent teacher with new ways to the school and a likeable personality, and rumours of a fanclub dedicated to him. 

Zane resisted the urge to mother hen Evan to all of his classes, but Pixal assured him his little brother would be okay. His friends met up after school in the locker room to meditate as they had been for the past week or so, sometimes working on the arcade game, meditating, drinking copious amounts of tea or simply resting from the continuous onslaught of tests.

Master Wu had been absent from the school as he’d said, with Pixal taking control of their training. Unfortunately, it was hard to organise them around Kai and Cole’s sports practices, Cole’s dance afternoons, Jay’s travel team, Nya trying out and training for the Ninjago Swim Team, and Skylor away with Liam and her friends.

Zane set the tray of simple peanut butter cookies on the stovetop and turned admonishing eyes on his father, who had been trying to sneak a cookie.

“They are fresh from the oven, which also means they are very hot, father. I would recommend letting them cool for ten minutes before allowing yourself a serving.”

Dr Julien’s blue eyes sparkled with boyish mischief. “Oh well. How has Evan been at school?”

“His teachers are very pleased with him, so he says. He’s very mature for his age of course, so he tends to hang out with Astra Harlow and her friends. I am a little worried that he’s not spending adequate time with his age group, and that might socially distance him from the others.” Zane considered all the points and moved the cookies onto a cooling rack. “Aside from that, I am very proud of him.”

Father beamed. “As you should be Zane. I know I have not exactly been the...best of a father I could be, and it’s right about time I start trying. I just wanted to say that I am sorry—so, incredibly sorry that I lied to you for so long. And in no way at all is it your fault. It is entirely mine for keeping what  _ you  _ should rightfully have known from the beginning. I do not know how to regain your trust, Zane, but I am willing to do whatever it takes, my… my boy.”

And Zane did not flinch like the last time Christopher Julien had said those words.

“Time.” he said, handing his father a warm cookie. “Time heals all wounds.”

A tentative smile crossed Dr Julien’s face as he tapped his cookie to Zane’s in cheers. “I will beat you at chess, someday.”

“Oh to be a dreamer,” Zane said dryly as his father barked out in laughter, wiping a tear from his crinkled eyes.

“Perhaps I should have let you choose your humour settings a long time ago.” 

Zane merely chuckled and bid his father goodnight before clearing up the kitchen and heading to bed with a spreading smile of trust, and joy. 

o o o

“Evan! We’re going to be late for the bus, you must hurry otherwise—” A blur sped past Zane and through the door, barrelling for the yellow bus outside. “Right.” He locked up and boarded after Evan, noting where his brother sat with Annabella Han, Zander Loughty and Kade Gorski. 

Pixal joined a stop later as she only took the bus on Fridays, sliding into the saved spot next to the window beside Zane as she liked. She was precariously balancing the skeleton of a paper mache volcano on her lap with materials sticking out of her backpack.

Zane’s brain raced to figure out why she needed a volcano and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he realised he’d forgotten they had the dual class science fair in two days, and he and Pixal were working cross class  _ and _ he was supposed to bring a hot glue gun.

“Pixal, I’m so sorry I forgot the hot glue gun—”

His girlfriend grinned and dipped her hand into her backpack, surfacing with a hot glue gun which she passed over to him. He sighed in relief and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.

“Thank you. I am sorry, I have been very busy with Evan and my father lately, the project slipped my mind.”

“No worries.” Pixal smiled as they passed another stop. “But after school you can come with me to Borg Tower to make up for it. We have received a new shipment of filaments for BorgPhones, and my father wanted your insight on design for a BorgPad, if measurements allow.”

His jaw hung open. “Cyrus Borg...wants  _ me _ to help him with his products? Of course!” 

“It’s not like you haven’t met him before.”

“Well, yes, I have met your father before but he sends out millions of Borg products every week or day, and he’s Ninjago’s largest technology company. To say I have worked with him would work wonders for future resumes. Thank you, thank you, thank you Pixal.”

She simply smiled, her eyes flashing several times in pattern. 

He decoded the message almost instinctively.

“How?” he gasped, reaching up to brush under his own eyes. 

“I’ll teach you after school.” Pixal offered. “For now, we need to figure out how to make a volcano from nothing.”

**astra**

“Astraaaaa!”

“Bells!” she grinned, and tossed her friend a whole avocado. “You’re welcome.”

Annabella rolled her eyes, stuffing the avocado into her bag. “No questions asked.”

Nodding, Astra repeated, “No questions asked.”

“What’s this about an illegal black market avocado trade?” 

An arm was slung around her shoulder and Astra punched Zander lightly in the side.

He oofed, winded and sent her a sharp glare. “That  _ hurt _ .”

“Yes, it was meant to.”

“When did you get so violent?” Zander moaned dramatically, dropping his wounded act.

She glanced down to her balled up fists and shrugged. “If I had a rolling pin that would hurt a lot more. Where’s Evan?”

“Evan’s right here.” piped up the younger boy. Astra grinned and patted him affectionately on the head. “Where’s Kade?”

“Probably at before school football practice.” Bells guessed as they walked to homeroom.

“ _ Football _ ? Since when does  _ Kade  _ do football? We’re talking about the same guy here, right?”

“Yep.” 

She turned to tell the eavesdropper off. “Hey, Mr Deep-Voice, get out of our conversation—what the  _ fuck _ —” Her mouth fell open as Kade cocked his head.

“What?”

“Why is your voice like that?” She spluttered. “And football? Since when?”

“Since my dad said so.” He shrugged, joining her left side while they walked. “And my voice couldn’t stay chipmunky forever, you know.”

“But…” she shook her head. “Why didn’t you tell me?” How had she  _ not  _ noticed for the three days before this?

“I mean, you kinda disappeared for three weeks, Astra.” butted in Zander.

“Yeah, but…” Faltering, her lips thinned as she turned to Kade. “You still could’ve told me.”

His mouth turned down into a frown. “Pretty hypocritical for someone who didn’t answer my texts or my calls for nearly a month.”

Astra opened her mouth defiantly to rebut his point, but he chuckled and slung his arm around her shoulder. Then she noticed how tall he’d grown. Before she’d been mugged in an alleyway, Kade had been the same height as her. And now...he was unfairly tall. At a loss for words, she hit his arm and balked at the taut muscle there.

“And now you have muscles? This is so not fair.”

“Everyone has muscles. Mine are just better than yours.” He offered with a smirk. A  _ smirk _ . Kade never smirked. And why was his face...like that?

He must have noticed her expression. “Hey. You have your secrets, and I have mine. I guess I’ll just wait until you want to tell me why you were gone for so long.” There he paused. “We noticed, you know. Your parents, uh, came around my place to ask if you were there.”

“Right."

“If they’re still—”

“They’re not.” she snapped back quickly. “I haven’t seen them in a while and I can keep myself safe. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, Gorski. Have some faith.”

Kade laughed again, his tone dropping. “At some point we all run out of cards to hide, Astra. You can talk to us. We’re friends.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll see you at lunch in the gym?”

A puzzled look took over her face.

“We have to do that extra credit assignment you roped me into since you missed sports?”

“Right. Lunch. Gotcha. See you later Kade.”

And so began Thursday morning.

There was absolutely  _ no  _ explanation as to why this Thursday had turned melancholy so quickly. Thursday was before Friday, and Friday was the day before the weekend. Thursday was epic day number two. Yet Astra’s brain was muddled with confusion as the day passed with slug pace, excruciatingly long classes and pounding headaches, like something was telling her Thursday, today Thursday, was not epic day number two, but a wrong day.

Then came the problem of how much Kade had changed. The confidence did him good, of course, but she missed her old friend who cared a little less about sports and more about helping her with taste testing. For one, she was incredibly annoyed that she was shorter than him now. And then the disgustingly long train of girls that just  _ now  _ noticed his presence at Ninjago High after bullying him for the last year or more made her want to throw up.

For no reason at all.

Zander was ranting to her about his boyfriend, gushing about their picnic date when a weird pang of jealousy decided to do the macarena in her stomach. Ignoring it, she smiled and listened attentively as she helped Zander plan out his turn for date organisation, a movie night, then under the stars. Zander and Simon were so cute together, it was a shame they went to different schools. The conversation moved onto dramatic complaints of their chemistry test coming up and Zander passionately argued against the teacher’s ideals of planning the tests so the students would fail.

She suffered the wrath of Miss Kelly in English, sending a dry look to her classmate Jay Walker when he was slightly blamed for her unprecedented absence. Then she produced three weeks worth of English Shakespeare work that Magis, who had taught her school at HQ, had made her do and Kelly shut up real quick.

Astra found it strange leading a double life. Well, not really a double life. If no one asked her questions, then she didn’t have to answer them. Though at times, she wanted to blurt out random truths she’d learnt about first hand whenever the Sons of Garmadon were brought up in conversation. Which, weirdly, was a lot. Apparently crime rates had been climbing since she’d been holed up at HQ. 

Rumours of the Serpentine and SOG clashing, as well as whispers from smaller gangs such as the Skulkins or the Ghosts, had been worming through Ninjago High. No one shut the rumours down though, leaving student’s imaginations to run wild. Her friends were planning to hang out at Mega Monster Amusement Park after school if all went planned — if Cassie or Riptide let Astra have the afternoon off training.

Her feet slowly trudged to the gym as she sorted through makeshift flashcards for her chemistry test. Head down, her feet lead her on autopilot straight to the doors of the gym...and into Kade. Swearing, she shoved the palm cards into a pile and stuffed them into her backpack while Kade apologised.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Astra sighed, dropping her backpack to the ground and tightening her left braid.

They walked over to the basketball hoop at the end of the gym where they would film her doing different types of shots, Kade chattering on about the new History teacher Mr Spirdon, who she actually hadn’t seen properly since she didn’t take that subject. From what she could tell though, in the short first week he’d been here, he was put up for the favourite teacher of Ninjago High, relaxed and chill with fun lessons, sticking up for kids and shutting down bullies.

He also was assistant coach for the football team, which of course, Kade knew since he was  _ on  _ it. She spat internally at Mr Gorski, a man she’d never really liked since he always thought of Kade poorly just because he’d been chubby. He was always pushing Kade to do stuff he Kade didn’t like, but Mr Gorski did, trying to live vicariously through him.

So that was why it was a surprise when she’d heard Kade was doing football.

“And he says he can get us a real life, working cannon in class. How sick is that?”

She chuckled at Kade’s eagerness. “I don’t want to know how he has access to that. Hey, what is that?” 

Astra pointed to the long lump covered with black cloth hastily shoved behind gymnastics mats, and changed their course over to it. Crouching, before Kade could open his mouth to protest, she flung the cloth off and froze at the sight before her.

A pair of glassy eyes stared back.

“Riptide?”

“Mr Spirdon?”

o o o

Dead bodies were not fun, full stop.

Kade ran for Vice Principal Dareth while she stayed hovered over Riptide’s prone body.

Riptide, AKA, Vance Spirdon, the sub teacher for History. Riptide, as in her mentor and honorary pain-in-the-ass older brother.

He looked so strange, lying there like he was sleeping, but with his eyes open. She lowered herself down to the ground and almost threw up inside as she touched his cold body, trying to feel for a pulse when she knew there was nothing. His neck was covered in a choker of bruises, his hand clasped around a small dagger. All SOG member’s last resort, except he hadn’t had the time to use it.

Whoever had fought him was good. Riptide was one of the best fighters the Sons of Garmadon had and it was brain boggling that he was, well, dead. It just didn’t seem real, and although acceptance was knocking at the door, Astra kept it closed.

There was no way he was dead, right?

“Wake up,” she whispered shakily. “You still have to t-teach me how to spin my sword li-like a lightsaber. You  _ promised _ .”

“Hey! Kid, what are you doing?”

“Riptide?” she choked out, whirling around. There was nothing from where his voice had been, and her gaze crossed suspiciously back to the body. 

“Rea? Can you hear me?”

“Riptide? What...yeah, I can hear you.” Exhaling slowly, she rubbed at her temples. Riptide’s dead body was  _ right in front of her _ , but his voice was floating around.

“Jeez. That was  _ not  _ fun, kid, lemme tell you that.”

“What the hell happened here? Why are you  _ dead _ ?” Her last words came out strangled with disbelief. 

“I can’t really tell you  _ why  _ I’m dead Rea. Just to give you a quick run down, someone strangled me, but it’s okay, because I let them?”

“That is  _ not  _ a proper excuse. How am I talking to you? Wait, am I dead too?  _ Oh my fucking— _ ”

“Chill! My god, I forgot how worked up kids get. No, you’re not dead. Before I got sent out to scout Ninjago High for  _ very top secret reasons you are not allowed to know _ , Big G let me know about your elemental stuff. Apparently you can talk to the dead. Ergo, which is why I’m here. Boom. Explanation finished.”

“That is...not. The  _ fuck _ ?”

She could almost see him shrug nonchalantly in front of her. “The truth hurts kid. Also, Kade looks very different from what the report describes him as.”

“Report? What report?” Astra spluttered indignantly. “Why do you have a file on Kade?”

“We have files on everyone, kiddo.” came his ghostly voice again, almost teasingly.

“You need to stop changing the subject and start telling me what the hell happened here. I am going to  _ kill  _ Garmadon if —”

“Kid. Chill. I can’t tell you about why I am, ahem, dead, but don’t question it, okay. The folks up there write everything the way it’s meant to be.”

“Well. You can’t be dead.”

“Why not? My body’s right there in front of you.”

“Because...well, you can’t.”

“Now  _ you’re _ giving poor excuses.”

“No. It just doesn’t make sense, because, you can’t. You’re not allowed to die.” she scoffed to herself, pushing her back against the wall to stare at the body with confused eyes.

“At some point everyone has to die, Rea. My time just came quicker than others. Besides, it’s pretty chill up here as a ghost.”

Her brain was moving at a sluggish pace, trying and failing to comprehend all of this. Death, being able to talk to ghosts, Kade, and school and....

“I’m sorry.” she finally said, staring randomly into space where she thought he would be hovering. “I think it’s my fault you died. You wouldn’t have been posted here to look out for me.” After a beat of staring at his covered up body, she swallowed. “I think I’m hallucinating or something. I need water.”

She ran into VP Dareth, Kade and Miss Kelly outside and waved them in wordlessly. Astra collapsed in a toilet cubicle pressing her head into her hands as her body numbed up. He was dead, right? His body was lying less than fifty metres away, and then he was talking to her, but  _ that  _ was her imagination playing tricks on her. Her breaths came out shaky and ragged. No, she  _ wasn’t  _ losing someone else. Cassie had come back, right?

Right?

She swore loudly, bashing her fist into the cubicle wall, sliding down the other on her back as her body wrecked itself with sobs and accusations.

She’d lost someone else today.

_ Shame my parents didn’t die instead of Riptide. _

She laughed hoarsely as her eyes stung, her nose dribbling ugly and her cheeks flushed pink.

_ See? You really are a blight on this world. _

Sandy Harlow’s voice was so taunting, dripping evil and sickness, that everything around her was practically begging for it.

Vance had been a better family than her parents.

A shock wave of darkness fled from her body and ripped through the toilet stalls and the sinks, tearing at the materials hungrily, her sobs growing more desperate with each breath, purple mass cocooning her into a safe place where she would be alone, a place where  _ no one else  _ was so she couldn’t hurt them.

She let out a mad bout of laughter, curling into herself amongst the broken ruins of the bathroom.

There is no reason to be afraid of Death when you have the ability to wield it.

Then why did it hurt so much?

-

**A/N: wow wilbur soot music really came in clutch here (special thanks to saline solution and jubline line).**

**Yes i did that. And you would do it too if you had the chance So. hi. Wow, uh, we’re pretty deep into the book. First murder, yaaaay! I actually don’t have a lot to say. Weird. Huh. i mean if you know me i really like writing deaths and then the reactions because the first reactions are different for everyone. Plus, astra now thinks she’s hallucinating that Riptide is talking to her from the Passage Realm.**

**A little explanation for that, we all know the departed realm is where all spirits/ghosts go. For mos, that’s the same, but it’s like a final resting place for** **_truly_ ** **departed souls. The Passage is sort of, as the name says, an in between realm. Like for example the spirits wander around ninjago, but there’s this thin film separating thmn from the real world. Only astra can speak with dead souls (for now) which is why it’s such an anomaly.**

**Right. Peace out folks!**

**-dommie out**


	36. [34] yes lloyd, we get it. you have trust and daddy issues

**lloyd**

Why was he replying to her again?

**harumi.brassard:** _ do you want to get froyo after school _

Did he? Because this totally wasn’t a date. They barely talked to each other in school, and Harumi definitely wasn’t the reason he’d been falling asleep at three am in the morning leaving Instagram open on her goodnight messages.

**lloyd_g:** _ sure. what time? _

**harumi.brassard:** _ four? i can get my dad’s driver to take us there _

**lloyd_g:** _ uhhh. I don’t think its a good idea for your dad to know youre hanging out with the son of his number one pain in the backside crime dealer _

**harumi.brassard:** _ don’t worry garmadon, ill handle it. Just wait for me outside school by the main entrance. _

**lloyd_g:** _ fine. its on your head _

**harumi.brassard:** _ have some faith lloyd. ive done this before you know.  _

**lloyd_g:** _ what? hang out with a crime lord’s son? _

**harumi.brassard:** _ no. being the daughter of the mayor isnt exactly all flashing lights and pretty smiles. its pretty hard being perfect all the time. Believe it or not, this isn’t all natural. _

**lloyd_g:** _ i guess we’re more similar than i thought _

**harumi.brassard:** _ four pm sharp, garmadon. otherwise i’m leaving without you _

**lloyd_g:** _ gee thanks, rumi _

__ **_read_ ** __

Oh god. Had he messed up calling her Rumi? The nickname had just stuck with him since they were past the last naming teasing. At least he was, anyway.

**harumi.brassard:** _ rumi? _

Okay, he could still save this and not have her destroy his flimsy non-existent reputation at school.

**lloyd_g:** _ you know. harumi. rumi _

**harumi.brassard is typing...**

**harumi.brassard:** _ i like it. just don’t tell anyone else to call me that. _

**lloyd_g:** _ ok? _

**harumi.brassard:** _ ill figure out a nickname for you soon garmadon. your last name is way too long to type out. _

Lloyd laughed to himself, hiding the blush of his cheeks by tugging on the drawstrings of his hood, using the concealment to sneak a glance at Harumi. She was sitting at the end of the popular lunch table, a curtain of straight bleached hair separating her from the rest allowing her to stare at her phone.

His gaze slid to assess the other kids sitting next to her. Brittney was practically sitting on Kai’s lap, though he kept trying to push her off subtly. Chad was talking to some other girls while Liam and Skylor seemed to be in a snappy argument drawing attention from tables nearby.

The cafeteria gabble was interrupted when a blonde kid pushed through the middle, half carrying a thin dark-haired girl who was bleeding from nicks all over her body. Everyone went silent and gaped, even the self absorbed narcissists turned their heads at the strange sight.

Then a boy with a big canvas and a girl wielding an avocado stood up, the latter yelling out, “Hey! Eyes back in your heads people, keep eating.”

They quickly hurried out after the limping duo, a smaller, ice blonde kid scurrying to follow. Zane half stood up to call out when they all realised that it was Evan who went after them.

“Uh. What was that?” Jay asked through a mouthful of pizza. 

“No idea.” Lloyd said, cocking his head. His eyes briefly made contact with Harumi’s before her gaze slipped away.

A minute later, Vice Principal Dareth ran into the cafeteria, his eyes wild and terrified. He skidded to a halt in the middle of the room.

“Teacher...dead in the gym. Thought you should know.” His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped to the ground.

Screaming infected everyone in fear after they unfroze from shock. Students rushed to pick up their bags and leg it out the entrances when Miss Kelly and the  _ Police Commissioner  _ strode in and ordered everyone to sit down and keep quiet.

Miss Kelly cleared her throat, gesturing to where VP Dareth had been pushed into a chair still unconscious. “While Mr Dareth is temporarily incapacitated, and with Principal Wu away at the moment, I will assume head of school. Please remain calm. Commissioner,”

The head of police cleared his throat and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. “What Vice Principal Dareth has just revealed to you is, in fact true. I see no point in lying to you all when you already have been told this news. School will be shut over the weekend and tomorrow. Your teachers will email your lessons to you, and we have not reached a conclusion as to whether or not school will continue on Monday. Once lunch finishes, you are all free to go home.”

Whispers filled the room as the Commissioner left, turning on his heel with two lower officers flanking him on their way out.

Miss Kelly cleared her throat, recalling the student’s attention. “Please do not pressure your peers into telling you what may have happened. This situation is very traumatic and the wellbeing of your students is our greatest concern. As the Commissioner said, you are free to go once lunch finishes. Keep an eye out for important emails, and have a good day.”

She walked away with his beads jangling in an ominous cheery tune, leaving the cafeteria in pensive silence. 

Then Harumi stood up, jutting a hip out with her arm on it. “Well? What are we waiting for? Let’s  _ go _ .” She turned and gave the slightest wink in his direction, which he returned subtly but felt like he was actually blinking.

Everyone cheered, which Lloyd considered weird since they’d literally been told about a teacher  _ dying  _ five minutes ago, but that was high school. Until everyone was gossiping again, the strange matter would lay at rest. He exchanged slightly confused looks with his friends before shrugging as Pixal and Zane headed off early to Borg Tower, and Jay and Nya sat at the lunch table awkwardly.

They hadn’t really made up from their muted fight at the monastery, but then Jay cleared his throat and offered to show Nya something about a motor. Somehow the cafeteria emptied before Lloyd registered it and stood there blinking slowly, moving to trudge out the door when an arm slid through the crook of his. Glancing sideways, he almost tripped over his own feet to see Harumi walking alongside him.

“H—hi?”

“Hey Lloyd,” her red lips parted in an easy smile as they walked to a sleek limo discreetly parked outside.

In a burst of chivalry — and basic decency, Lloyd darted forward and opened the door for Rumi, getting in on his own side. Unsure of where to sit, he just sat next to her on the driver-facing booth seat. She pressed her fingers to a black box in the middle of the car’s floor which hissed as it rose upwards. Opening it, Harumi handed Lloyd a Sprite and settled back comfortably on the seat. She brought out a compact mirror and wiped away a smudge.

Lloyd sipped from the can uncomfortably, watching the tinted divider separating them from the driver as if the car would stop and he’d be yanked out by armed bodyguards.

Harumi slapped his arm lightly. “Would you  _ relax _ ? No one’s going to jump you.”

“Maybe.” he muttered back as the driver stopped outside the mall. “This still is not a good idea.”

“You’ve said.” she drawled, and then dragged him out to the mall entrance.

Ten minutes later, after an impromptu run in with a small television station crew and quick interview in which he slouched off behind a potted plant, Lloyd and Harumi sat in a booth. His froyo was a simple base of vanilla and then every available candy topping piled on top. Rumi’s was a cherry bomb special, and their bill was on special discount, for unsaid, but very clear reasons.

He stuck his spoon into the swirl of his froyo and sighed, his eyes glancing up to meet Harumi’s.

“Rumi, why are you doing this?”

“What?”

He waved vaguely around him. “Taking me out to eat,  _ talking  _ to me, we barely know each other.”

“Well, that’s not true. I know that you think Alisse from Realm Raider shouldn’t be so overpowered, and that her sidekick Meowthra is your favourite because she reminds you of your cat when you were younger. Her name was Miffy, and she was a tabby who only ate oranges.”

_ She listened to me? _

“I know that you think I’m a stuck up mayor’s daughter, which, yeah, I am, but I’m not that dumb to think people don’t talk about me behind my back. I’m not shallow, because I know my parents only use me to ‘get in’ with the younger generation of votes. Did you know I have dinner with my parents once a week? And—” She hiccuped as Lloyd’s eyes widened.

Rumi fell silent as she looked down at her yogurt, laughing hoarsely. “But you don’t want to hear that. I just thought it would be nice to get to know someone who hasn’t got their head stuck up their ass.”

His hand crept across the table and he weaved their fingers together, almost waiting for her to jerk back.

“I didn’t know...I’m sorry.”

Her eyes landed on their laced hands.

“It’s fine. I don’t talk to a lot of people that I really like anyway.”

“Do you like me?” he cocked his head teasingly.

“Yeah,” she replied instantaneously. “I think I do.”

**jay**

Right. He may have forgotten that Fritz Donnegan was supposed to call him but right now he was spending time with Nya. She was spending time with him,  _ voluntarily _ . He glanced to the divider where she’d left a few minutes ago for some supplies she’d spotted in his yard, and then back to his watch. Since school had ended abruptly at one, for a reason Jay was pretty sure VP Dareth had overexaggerated since he was that kind of guy, he’d thought he had plenty of time to hang out with Nya.

Then Edna had roped his crush into staying with them for dinner, and Jay had the phone call in five minutes. His only viable option right now, so that Nya wouldn’t find out, or his parents, was to have a baby-Jay scrapbook session. Groaning, he opened the divider to tell his mum that Nya wanted to know more about his childhood (which, realistically no one would be interested in), and then traipsed outside to tell Nya. Or he could just let her browse the piles of scrap but that risked her coming back inside.

Five minutes later, low giggles and rapid conversation assured Jay that Nya would be occupied for at least an hour, and the phone call couldn’t possibly go on for longer than that, right? He sat cross-legged on his bed with the letter unfolded next to him on his Space Adventure covers, his phone in his right hand. It vibrated like a volcano about to explode so he quickly picked it up.

“Hi, this is Michelle Rezzerstan from Donnegan Cinematic Studios. Is this Jay Walker?”

“Yep!” his voice squeaked up an embarrassing octave he cringed at.

“Awesome! I’ll connect you to Mr Donnegan in a minute or so, please hang tight.”

The theme song for the Fritz Donnegan shows played in the jazz version, and Jay hummed along softly to the music when a sophisticated voice joined the call.

“Hello there. I’m—”

“Fritz Donnegan!”

The actor laughed. “It seems like you know of me, at least Mr Walker.”

“Uh, call me Jay, please. And who doesn’t know your name?” Jay laughed nervously.

“So, I saw some of your videos.”

Right. Straight to the point.

“Yeah uh, sir, I’m really sorry about those, I’m pretty sure I broke some sort of contract my parents signed, just please, I’ll get the money for your lawsuit, don’t tell them. I—” His ramble took on a panicked tone as he searched his room for his piggy bank. “I don’t want to disappoint them, and my dad really loved having the Bullet here, it’s an excellent car by the way, but—”

“Jay.” Donnegan said calmly. “I’m not suing you.”

He stood up straight. “You’re not suing me?”

“I’m not suing you.” Donnegan repeated. “I actually want to offer you an internship at the studio.”

Jay choked on air. “You want—you want  _ me  _ to do an internship at DCS?”

“Yeah, from the video it seems like you’re a pretty inventive kid. How’d you manage that lighting?”

“Just a, uh, random lightning storm.”

“That you caught on film twice?”

“Yep.”

The silence was so awkward Jay was considering an offer to sing his idol the theme song of his own movie franchise in a very off-tune warble.

“I’ll get Michelle to send you the details. Have a good day, Jay. And say hello to Mr Cuddlywomp for me.”

“Yes! Of course!” he replied, holding in a scream as the call ended. His hand bright the patchy bear towards him when he sat upright.

How did he know who Mr Cuddlywomp is?

**kai**

He stretched lazily on the field next to Cole and the rest of the team, retying the loose laces absentmindedly when he heard excited hooting from the grandstands. Brittney jumped up and down excitedly, waving and cupping her hands to yell hello. Skylor Chen sat beside her stiffly in the clothes she’d been wearing all day, similar to the style Harumi and Brittney wore. Basically, tight clothes which she looked incredibly uncomfortable in. Even Kai could tell.

Practice was pretty boring. They moved through all the warm ups and exercises, then did some skill sets and moved to practice games. Brittney was very vocal throughout their hour and a half of practice, to the point where Coach had asked Kai to tell his girlfriend to keep it down. He nearly got concussed because she tried to run on field - on purpose, or by accident, Kai couldn’t tell, but his head was throbbing painfully.

After practice, he said an awkward goodbye to Liam, Chad, Jake, Cole and the rest of the team whilst trying to sneak out of the field stadium without Brittney catching sight of him. Hey did notice a car lazily following him while he guzzled Amnestone tea from his thermos, but luckily, he made it home without any sign of the obsessive girl and took a long shower to drown his miseries in. Just as he was in the kitchen raiding the pantry for Nya’s Oreos, the doorbell rang loudly.

Ryu made a pitiful attempt at a yowl, and Kai picked him up gently. Lloyd skidded across the hardwood floor in his socks and opened the door at the incessant rapping that was making Kai’s headache worse. 

“Lloyd?” squeaked a familiar voice, and Kai dropped to the ground, lying on his stomach with Ryu curled on his back.

“Um. Who are you?” 

“Kai’s  _ girlfriend _ .” Brittney said in a shrill voice. “I thought I told the whole school...never mind, could you let me in? I need to talk to him about someone. And our future, you know? As a long term couple, with marriage in the future? I think he’d look drop-dead  _ gorgeous  _ in a suit, but don’t tell him! I don’t want to scare him off!”

Kai was screaming on the inside.

_ You have very much fucking scared me off from something I wasn’t interested in Brit-Leech! _

“So? Can you let me in?” Brittney pleaded in Lloyd’s dumbfounded silence.

_ Tell her no, tell her no, tell her no, Lloyd I swear to- _

“Kai’s actually not home right now. I think, he’s uh, hanging out with Skylor?”

Kai mentally facepalmed, now shouting:  _ you idiot you made everything worse  _ on the inside.

“Skylor, huh?” Brittney mused. “I’ll have a talk with him about that later. And his restrictions for going out and such, but when he gets home could you tell him I stopped by? He isn’t answering any of my messages.”

“Sure.” Lloyd agreed, and Kai peeked over the counter to see him waving goodbye nervously. “See you...around.” And then Lloyd shut the door firmly, and locked it for extra measure.

The blonde looked around the room airly. “Your girlfriend is crazy.”

Kai opened his mouth, offended as he got to his feet. “I didn’t  _ ask  _ to be her boyfriend in the first place.”

“Well she’s pretty hardcore.” Lloyd mumbled. “And maybe batshit crazy.”

Kai tried to bring himself to defend her, but the words never even made it to his brain. Instead, he asked, “How’s your meditation going?”

Lloyd jumped over the couch and onto a pile of beanbags, grabbing a controller and booting up Minecraft. “Okay.”

“Any progress on energy?” He took the other controller offered and joined the world, double checking the current durability of his netherite chestplate.

“Nooooo.” Lloyd paused as his sword glanced off Kai’s shield. “How’s the Master of  _ F-Fiyah  _ going?”

Kai’s memory clicked of his practice posing yesterday night in front of the mirror. “Oh you are so dead. And I’m taking your sharpness, looting three, fire aspect, knockback sword after I do it.”

“No,  _ please _ don’t. I spent ages getting that sword, do you know how many levels I had to afk at the XP spawner for?  _ So  _ many. And don’t get me started on the time I gave you a god-apple and then you used it to go fight Cole!” whined Lloyd. “Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease—”

“Oh my god, I’m not going to kill you. I’m just going to assassinate Harold the cow.”

“We have a peace treaty Kai, you can’t do that!” 

“ _ Kai _ .” came Misako’s warning voice. He dropped the controller like a hot potato to greet his guardian. 

Misako unwound the green scarf at her neck, dropping her keys into the oyster-style bowl at the front table. “Have you done your homework yet? Or studied for that History test tomorrow?”

“Actually, we don’t have school tomorrow, mum.” Lloyd piped in, finally being helpful. “Something happened and they shut down the school.”

“What happened, exactly?” Misako frowned.

“A teacher died.” Kai said offhandedly, “But I’m pretty sure Mr Dareth was over exaggerating since football practice wasn’t cancelled. Just school.”

Misako’s frown stayed on her face. “Is Nya home yet?”

“She’s hanging out with Jay,” Lloyd said. “She said she got invited over for dinner with the Walkers.”

Nodding, Misako smiled, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen Ed and Edna. The Walkers are a very nice family, and Jay is a very nice boy. I’m sure Nya likes spending time with him.”

“Uh, why would she like spending time with Jay?” Kai wondered aloud.

Misako looked at him with a laugh. “She likes him, Kai. Haven’t you noticed?”

He opted not to reply so his brain wouldn’t dwell on more friends having ‘crushes’ or crushes, on his little sister. Staring out of the window absentmindedly, Kai sat up a little straighter as he noticed a black car roll up the side of the pavement. It was the same one that had followed him on the way home from practice. He couldn’t tell what brand it was, but he made the instant connection to that girl who had limped through the cafeteria. She’d been picked up by a black car with an older girl wearing a hood half concealing her white hair. 

Frowning, he looked away and went back to nether-mining for ancient debris, suspicion settling in the back of his mind. 

**A/N: IHENWUOFNIOUN so i just wanted to say the scene where dareth runs in and goes**

**‘Teacher dead in the gym...thought you should know.’ was based off the scene from the philosopher’s stone where quirrell runs in goes ‘troll in the dungeons!’. Ps, i hate jk rowling, but that scene stemmed from there. Look, kids, i know half the scenarios in this fic are hardly realistic but that’s teh point! I’ve literally gone insane! mos is being update twice a week to finish this book before November, so I hope you enjoy double updates!**

**ALSO OH MY FUCKING POG WE GOT 90K WORDS IN THIS CHAPTER AND I SWITCHED POVS SO MANY TIMES BUT YOU GET WHAT YOU GET LMFAO**

**-dommie out**


	37. [35] haha muder mystery go brrr

**astra**

She let another arrow fly, and watched silently as it pierced through the lower area of the human paper target. Without looking, her hands nimbly switched the normal bow over to a crossbow and then loaded it in its new form. The twang of release was strangely calming, and her muscles yelled in protest as she cocked the bow again, lining up the shot instinctively and following through.

“It’s three in the morning, Rea.” Cassie said gently from behind her. Ignoring it, Astra packed away her long range equipment and got out the training dummy and a practice katana. “Sleep seems like a good idea.”

“I can’t sleep.” she finally said, slashing across the chest of the dummy.

“Maybe some warm milk and cookies?” her sister suggested, half teasingly.

“No, like I can’t sleep.” Astra paused to look at Cassie. “At all, like I’m an insomniac or something.”

Cassie stared at her strangely, sighed, and then said “Follow me. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

So that was how Astra followed her sister through the maze of corridors to another shop-like room, the counter out front with barstools jutting out from the wall, and a small gate that led behind the counter and to the back room. A girl lounging on a high chair behind the counter quickly fumbled to sit properly, flashing the sisters bright smiles.

“Cass! And...Astra, right?”

“How do you know my name?”

Cassie hit her on the shoulder. “This is Maya, my girlfriend.”

Her eyebrows rose a little. “You’re queer?”

“I’m bi,” Cassie clarified.

Astra nodded. “Not surprised, to be honest.”

Cassie opened her mouth at that, but Maya interrupted the silent spluttering with a question of her own. Astra’s gaze left the cuffed ends of Cassie’s pants and her boots and back to the conversation.

“So you’re looking for a comm?”

“A what now?”

Maya laughed lightly and pressed a button behind the counter, popping open the release mechanism for the side gate. “Follow me.”

Astra obeyed and walked into the back room, surprised as the drab outer facing had nothing on the inside. The room was stuffed chock full of technology of every kind. One of the walls was completely covered with huge computer screens, a floating desk running along the length of the wall with keyboard and mouses. The other two walls held cabinets, one with glass see through cabinets, the others secured with locks and metal. Maya stepped forward to the sleek black metal cabinets, searching the little labels and unlocked one of cubbies with the name ‘Reaper’ pressed over the rung in silver.

Maya tugged it open and pulled out a black device mirror to the ones clipped onto Troya and her belts. Then one of the monitors, on the half which wasn’t a live map of Ninjago City, lit up. She worked quickly at the keyboard, and Cassie stood behind her, whispering hurriedly. Maya laughed and pushed Cassie away. After a few minutes, Maya had it hooked up to a series of systems and then handed the device to Astra, gesturing the uniform utility belt strapped to her waist.

“Your comm will be essential in battle. It’s untraceable, can hook onto your ear or be connected to your bike amongst a ton of other things. I’ve been working at the tech department here for almost two years and everything you need is here.” 

Astra’s brain registered all of this but focused on one enticing part. “My...bike?”

Cassie groaned. “You spoiled it Mays.”

Maya rolled her eyes and pushed them towards the door. “I’m sorry about Riptide, by the way. He was a good guy, even though he never remembered to return any tech gear.”

“Yeah.” Astra said quietly. “I’m sorry too.”

They said goodbye, and Astra followed Cassie along their silent walk, pensive thinking keeping her occupied. They took an elevator down with a press of an unmarked button, and Cassie yawned loudly, sneaking a terribly concealed look at Astra for an assassin. It was strange. She hadn’t realised how big of an impact Riptide had had on her life, in four weeks, he’d been a better family than any of her relatives. But instead of that agonising heart wrenching she’d felt initially, Astra just...didn’t feel it anymore. Like her emotions, and ability to sleep, had abandoned her.

Her sister stepped out of the elevator first as Astra stared at the gigantic cavern in front of her, the curved dome housing hundreds of vehicles, mostly motorcycles, but still hundreds. To her right was a gigantic circle, which was being operated at that moment. An SOG scout wheeled their bike over to the circle in the ground and fiddled with their comm for a second before the circle pushed up and out of the ground, a tunnel opening above it as the cylinder disappeared above.

Cassie stopped her gawking as they walked over to the neat ranks of bikes, and right in the back row, stood alone was a bike. It was exactly like the others - nothing special, not at all, but Cassie gestured to it vaguely. 

“Use your comm to unlock it.”

Astra looked at her. “How?”

Cassie sighed and took out her own comm, waved it in the direction of another bike, presumably Troya’s. It beeped as the bike’s lights flashed. Astra copied the movement and waved her comm at her bike and grinned as it came to life. 

“How do you guys have this much money? Wait, do you rob banks on the daily? Because there’s no way you could afford this otherwise.”

Cassie laughed and Astra turned the bike off. She vaguely knew how to ride one, so lessons weren’t needed unless Troya decreed it so.

“You know the supermarket chain, Masters? That’s us.”

Her brow furrowed. “That’s...weird, but okay.”

They took the elevator back up to the main floor, and Astra offered to braid Cassie’s hair because she really had no idea what to do. She couldn’t sleep, and she was sick of training. Surprisingly, her sister accepted and they went back to Cassie’s private dorm. Since she was a high ranked member of the SOG, and not a lowly apprentice like hers truly, she got her own room.

Astra volunteered to pop some butter popcorn, promising not to eat until she’d finished her sister’s hair. Cassie was terrible at cooking - at least, she had been before she’d disappeared. It also had to do with her fear of fire - of any size, Cassie hated even just looking at a flame. She didn’t explain why, but she made a strong point to keep away from it. 

One of the few times her parents had shouted at Cassie and not Astra when they were younger was when Astra was too short to monitor the pot bubbling on the stove. Cass had refused to so much as stir the pot, her eyes fixated on the flames in fear and they’d never spoken on it after that. The TV in her room had been switched to Netflix, and Cassie was running through a list of shows before pausing on Gilmore Girls.

“You know, we never got to finish watching it.” her sister said somewhat sheepishly as Astra set the bowl down on the coffee table. “Might as well start from the very beginning.”

The pilot episode started playing, and Astra quickly combed through her sister’s thin hair, parting it and gathering it into two white halves. It felt strange doing something so siblingish. At home, it was usually chores or homework, managing the house or filling in extra slots at her part-time job. Her fingers moving nimbly, criss-crossing the pieces expertly to match the hairstyle hers were in. About a quarter of a way through the first episode, she finished doing her sister’s hair and looked proudly at the neat rows of looping and crossed hair. 

“Why’d you dye your hair white? Aside from the new identity thing?” Astra crammed in a mouthful of popcorn and flopped against the pillows.

“I always wanted to dye my hair. But Sandy said that I couldn’t do it for my violin and piano performances, so the moment I got out of there I went to a hair salon. I guess it was the first mini rebellion against them, for me.”

Astra ‘hmmmed’ and cringed at the screen at Rory and Dean’s first interaction. “I can’t believe the first guy that Rory met was Dean. I swear he’s too perfect for anyone. Kinda creeps me out.”

“Who’s Kade?”

“What?”

“The kid that helped you out of school, Kade? I read his file—”

“Oh my god, what the hell is up with you people and your files? I’m going to go hang out with Duckman if you keep asking me these questions.”

“Duck...man?”

“Titanium? The guy in the walls that makes animatronics?”

“Oh,  _ him _ . You know you should talk to him more. The guy’s a little awkward since he doesn’t really hang out with other apprentices, yet he’s spent practically his whole life at HQ. People here are still wary of elemental powers, even with him and Garmadon here.”

Astra narrowly avoided choking. “He’s an elemental master?”

“Yeah. The Master of Metal?” Cassie looked at her, and then stole the bowl back. “He got his powers from his grandfather, Karlof, who used to help us out sometimes. But there was this civil war in Metalonia, and his family came here. Thank god he doesn’t speak in third person like Karlof, that guy gave me constant headaches.”

“I’ve never heard of Metalonia.”

“Thorn will cover it in one of your GA sessions. We like to keep tabs on other regions.” Cassie caught a kernel in her mouth and crunched down on it. “I heard he was cooking something up with Garmadon, designed to do something to elemental masters. He’d appreciate some company and insight to the whole elemental training and machine building.”

“Sounds cool.”

“Do you have anything else you need to talk to me about? I have to head out soon, I’m sorry, so now is a good time.”

Astra made a note to speak (interrogate) Titanium and picked at her fingernails. “Kade’s voice dropped.”

“Oh?”

“And he plays football now,” she said, a little grumpier. “He also has muscles.”

“So does everyone.”

“That’s what  _ he _ said.” Astra groaned, and then buried her face into the throw blankets. “It’s not fair.” her muffled voice complained.

“How is it not fair?” her sister laughed.

“I dunno. Everything’s changed.”

“No it hasn’t. Annabella Han is still insisting that you try a vegan diet, Zander Loughty is literally the most talented art kid I’ve seen, and by the way, tell him I say hi to Simon,  _ and  _ Kade just found himself a little confidence. Really, you’re the one whose changed the most.”

Astra stared at her. “I’m not going to ask why you’ve been keeping tabs on my friends, but thanks, I guess."

“Anything for my little sister—”

“Get your stinky hands out of my hair.”

“Fine, fine. Wait—here comes Kirk! And Sookie!”

**nya**

“So he  _ is  _ dead.” she murmured, scrolling through the rest of the article. She looked to Pixal, who was curled up in the chair opposite her in the library. “I can’t believe Dareth was telling the truth.”

“He does have a tendency to over-exaggerate.” Pixal agreed. “It is strange they’d make us come back with only Monday off, through. I suppose they cleared it up over the weekend, but the media got the spill. It doesn’t look good for the school that Wu’s away either.”

Nya nodded. “Thanks for coming to the library with me. The boys are in my house, probably destroying it since Kai doesn’t care and there’s so much chest and fist bumping. Did you know we went through two boxes of Monster energy drinks last time? One day, I swear, one day…” Nya trailed off, clicking her pen rapidly.

Pixal frowned deeply as they both continued reading the same article. “Listen to this extract, Nya. ‘According to an inside source in the Ninjago Police Department, they found traces of DNA from Astra Harlow, a student at Ninjago High, and Kade Gorski. They did not find anything else except from a single card with an insignia stamped it. It is believed to be associated with the  _ Sons of Garmadon _ . But that’s not all, the crime scene investigators also found a green scale that suggests as link to the Serpentine gang.”

Although Nya was intrigued with this, she was cautious enough to say, “Pixal, we really shouldn’t get involved with this.”

“Tea?” her friend offered a thermos out to her which she accepted readily. “I understand. It is just frustrating, especially since Master Wu told me to trust him. And now he’s dead.”

“Wu told you to trust our dead history teacher?”

Pixal inclined her head. “I...also have something else to confess.”

Nya cocked her head and tightened her grip on the thermos.

Pixal took in a heavy breath, and calmly said “I am an android.”

“You’re an  _ android _ ?” Blinking slowly, Nya fixed Pixal with a hard glare. “You’re joking, right?”

Then Pixal drew up the left sleeve of her sweater, tapped on the inside of her forearm twice and a panel opened up. Nya gulped down her tea before it could shoot out of her nose and looked closer. Inside were switches, metal parts and wires, twisting mazes and...Pixal was telling the truth. She fell back into her chair and blew her fringe out of her eyes and then glanced at her phone.

“I have to go walk Ryu now, before he goes stir crazy inside the house. But this conversation is  _ not  _ finished. Girl, you do not just drop a bomb like that on me.” Nya hurried out of the library, her head spinning as she picked up a call from her brother.

“What is it this time Kai?”

“Are you coming to pick up Ryu or not, cause I’m thinking of holding a party here pretty soon and—”

“I’m on my way already. And this is the third party you’ve had since we got back! Misako is bound to notice that you’ve got an abnormal amount of late nights.” 

“Nah, I’m too good at hiding my baggy eyes. Want me to teach you?”

“Excuse me? Just—ugh, I’ll be home in ten minutes.”

Ending the call with a sigh of disappointment, Nya sped up her pace a little, walking through a relatively safe neighbourhood, which, still she wouldn’t have attempted at night. Even then, an evening chill was beginning to creep over and she increased her pace even more when she turned a corner and noticed a black car slowly coming down the street. Shrugging it off, she made her journey a couple minutes quicker by turning her walk into a jog. 

Tossing a glance over her shoulder, her body tensed as the car was still following her at a healthy, but suspicious distance. Luckily she was on her street and she quickly unlocked the door, shutting it behind her with a relieved sigh. Yipping and a slight weight on her toes, as well as pawing at her shoes let her know that Ryu was very much ready for his walk. She squatted to say hello, and then tossed her study materials into the stylish built-in cupboard in the wall that was hers to organise here.

“It’s going to be a short walk, buddy.” Nya whispered to Ryu, clipping on his lead and gripping her key and hesitating over the pepper spray on the counter. She took one look outside where she could see the car loitering and transferred Ryu’s lead to her left hand, and the spray to her right. “Change of plans, Ryu. Let’s go to our beach, huh?”

Ryu barked sharply, and Nya walked to the backyard, passing the gaming room where Cole, Kai, Lloyd, Zane and Jay were yelling over each other.  _ I didn’t know Jay was going to be here.  _ She checked her appearance in the mirror, brushing flyaway strands of hair to the side and patting at her cold-flushed cheeks. Then, with a long gaze at the back of Jay’s head which really should not have happened at all, Nya led Ryu out to the stretch of their private beach.

The river air was crisp and chilling, and Ryu barked loudly as he ran up and down the beach, Nya running after him with a laugh. He paused every so often to sniff at a washed stick or rock, prancing happily with innocent nature. Nya, although she knew there was no way whoever was driving the car could be following her on private land, she was wary and the hairs on the back of her neck were not standing up because of the cold.

With the experience of a sister knowing when a brother’s watchful eyes were spying on you, Nya dropped Ryu’s leash to retie her sneakers and immediately regretted it as Ryu dashed off with a happy yip towards the public garden of the community. Nya swore, palmed the spray and ran off after him. Although Ryu was a small puppy for his breed, the dog was making an abnormal amount of noise for a puppy as tiny as him. Nya found him in no time and was admonishing him with hard eyes and a hushed whisper when a branch from the tree above snapped.

She let out a scream as she dived to the side, cradling Ryu in her arms. Silence followed, only punctuated by her heavy breaths. Nya scrambled to her feet, and froze momentarily at the figure in the tree above her. She was wearing all black, a hood and mask, the only unique feature was her hair, which was done in two braids and dyed white that slipped out of the hood. The girl’s eyes flicked to hers, and then she melded with the tree and darkening sky, and she was gone.

Drawing in a shaky breath, Nya tugged on the lead. “Holy...crap. C’mon Ryu, let’s go home. This was not the Sunday night I predicted.”

Ryu, still completely unaware of the previous danger they’d been in, happily obliged in the walk back. Nya was pensively silent as she locked the gate to the beach, and the door to their backyard. She went through the house and made sure everything was locked before sliding into the kitchen and began making herself a hot cup of coffee. She’d suffer the after-effects later, because it was worth the warmth and bitterness that cut through her fear-frozen thoughts.

“Turn the news on,  _ now _ !” shouted Jay from the other room. The boys loudly clamoured against it, but there was scuffling and thumps, and somehow Jay ended up victorious with the remote, changing it to the news just as Nya walked in. 

Gayle Gossip, a well known reporter was standing outside the mayor’s house, staring at the camera, her mouth slightly agape. She flinched and then looked at the camera with a pasted smile.

“Hi everyone, I’m Gayle Gossip from NGTV, bringing  _ you _ , our loyal citizens and faithful watchers, up to speed with everything Ninjago!” The pink clad reporter glanced back to the shadowed frame of the Mayor’s house. “But tonight, I’m deeply saddened to say the news I’m bringing you is not as light mooded as our usual reports. At seven-thirty four this evening, eight minutes ago, it was released to media companies that the Mayor of Ninjago City, and his wife, were found dead in their living room.”

The room shut up real quick.

Gossip took in a slow breath, and looked back at the camera. “Their daughter, Harumi Brassard discovered their bodies when she came back home after a night out with her friends. Harumi, I’m so sorry you had to experience something so traumatising, and everyone at NGTV is sending you our deepest condolences.”

Nya slowly sat down on one of the couches and threw her legs over Zane’s, her grip tightening on the coffee as Gayle continued. Lloyd was searching for his phone, muttering under his breath like a madman.

“The information the police have is minimal right now, but it certainly is interesting that the elections were due to take place in a few weeks. Additionally, the death of highschool teacher Vance Spirdon at Ninjago High is putting everyone on the fence. Citizens, I urge you to stay safe and keep watching NGTV for hourly updates along with our articles releases. That’s all for now, and I hope your day is as good as ours!” Gayle’s harried expression clearly contradicted that last statement.

Nya’s hand crossed to her mouth, and someone took her coffee from her.

“What...the fuck?” Kai whispered, as an ad came on.

“I told you we should have done something!” Cole snapped, his eyes going to Jay’s. “Wu specifically told us that Garmadon was probably going to attack people who are higher up in society, and gosh darn, the Mayor seems pretty powerful!”

“What could we have  _ done  _ to stop it? Give me one good solution to this.  _ One  _ way we could have prevented this.”

“I—” Cole clenched his jaw and pointed to the TV where kids were playing with sand happily. “That doesn’t change the fact that our powers aren’t working. At  _ all _ .”

Nya felt this was a good time to step in. “Look, Cole, Jay’s point was the most logical decision. Did you want us to become ninja or something and help out? I know it’s frustrating that our powers aren’t working,  _ believe  _ me, at least you had better signs that they were there in the first place. With Wu gone, there’s nothing we can do.  _ Nothing _ .”

Everyone fell silent.

“Garmadon’s probably neutralising us, right?” Lloyd said softly. “My dad has elemental powers, which means he probably knows  _ I  _ have them too. And it’s safe to assume he knows you lot have them too. The Sons of Garmadon have a bigger reach than anyone thinks, and any tiny detail won’t go unnoticed. I don’t know how, but you guys—” he pointed to the other guys, “Are losing track of your power.”

“Wu said that it was because—”

“Well, Wu was  _ wrong _ . I can’t do anything, not even stick my finger in a fire.” Kai ran his hands through his hair. “Maybe he’s got a machine nullifying us? Or someone…I don’t know.”

“Vengestone.” Zane said quietly. Nya looked to him, as she recalled that conversation in the monastery weeks ago. “The power to nullify any elemental’s gift.”

“How?” Jay spluttered. “There are a million ways he could be doing it.”

Zane shrugged, his ice blue eyes looking faraway through the window at the dark sky. “I think we should all stay the night at Kai and Nya’s house. I will message Pixal to see if she can come over, because tonight, I do not think any of us are safe.”

His chilling gaze swept around the room.

“Not anymore.”

**A/N: damn zane, keep it coming with those dramatic lines. Right! That's another (well, double) murder down! Finally we got things r o l l i n g. I am dying inside at the crazy amount of plot trouble i put myself into because** **_I_ ** **have to solve these ridiculous situations i put them in and its hurting my head. Fuck. uh, don’t really have much to say? Just get ready for more gore and yeah :)**

**-dommie out**


	38. [36] dareth makes all situations awkward am i right

**cole**

There are inexplicable reasons for which people feel pain. 

He felt bad for getting angry at his friends, but he was already wound up since dealing with the grief of accidentally killing his mother - indirectly or not, Cole was still responsible. Strangely, he found comfort in reading the pages of his mother’s journal, and finding that it not only held details of her personal life, but copies of advice and lessons she said she took from the Archive of Earth.

As far as Cole knew, he hadn’t seen any of the borrowed tidbits in the Archive itself, but he was happy going through her journal and finding photos and snippets of her life. Dance actually wasn’t going too terribly. His dad, on one hand, was over the moon that he’d finally followed in the Royal Blacksmith’s footsteps, and the teasing wasn’t too bad. If anything, the concentration they were paying to footwork and technique were actually helping his gameplay for football. He was faster and more agile than most of the team, apart from Kai, who luckily was a natural at the sport.

It was a useful advantage for when they played against other schools they wouldn’t expect a hulk of muscle to be fast on his toes. Cole stretched languidly, easing the ache in his muscles as the sun just began to peek over the houses across from them. Finally, he decided that it was safe enough to go downstairs and not be caught by his father for meditating in front of the television with a bowl of cereal balanced on one knee.

To his surprise, Lou Brookstone was shuffling around the kitchen in an apron whilst wielding a spatula covered in runny egg. The last time his father had cooked was...a long time ago. Long enough it was strange to see him flipping the omelettes naturally and waving to Cole cheerily. His mother was a terrible cook, something Cole had inherited, so Lou’s cook was exceptional to make up for the lack of skill.

“Sit down boy, don’t just stand there gawking.” Loud reprimanded him, though his sharp tone had a soft edge to it as he pushed a jug of orange juice over to Cole’s plate, plating the first omelette onto with ease. 

His legs finally unlocked, urged by a hungry growl of his stomach. Cole sat down cautiously, wary to see what news his father was going to spring on him. But Lou just egged him on to eat, even producing a bowl of cut fruit to go alongside the meal. His appetite took over suspicion, and Cole dug into the cheesy goodness with relish. Lou finished his own and sat down opposite Cole, slicing his knife through the first cut.

“I’ve been thinking Cole, we should at least try to have breakfast together once a week.”

“Hmm?"

“I hardly ever see you in the morning, you’re either in your room or you’re off to practice early in the morning. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a proper meal together.”

Cole swallowed. “I think that’s a good idea.” He was mildly shocked to find that he agreed with his dad. Ever since he’d taken on dance, gained appreciation for the sport, and told his father, their relationship had been less tenuous to the point where Cole wouldn’t mind the extra time spent with Lou.

“Really?” Lou’s eyebrows shot up, but the corners of his mouth turned up into a slight smile. “Do you want to watch the news?”

“Sure.” Cole adjusted his seat slightly so they could both see the old TV in the kitchen, the screen flickering to life as the NGTV channel came on, Gayle Gossip in studio this time. Unlike a few nights ago, in front of the Mayor’s house. Cole shuddered as he recalled the scary words that came from the reporter’s mouth, and was glad they decided to have a big sleepover that night.

“Good morning Ninjago! I’m Gayle Gossip from NGTV, bringing  _ you _ , our loyal citizens and faithful watchers, up to speed with everything Ninjago! This morning, we received meagre information from the Police Commissioner regarding the unfortunate...murders of the Mayor and his wife, Sunday night.” Gayle beckoned to the camera shy head of police, who side-stepped into view, coughing into his fist.

“Uh, mornin’ Ninjago. I hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy. Now as Miss Gossip here kindly said, the information I have to offer you is not much, however, the magnitude of it will affect all of Ninjago City.” There, he wrung his hands. “Effective tomorrow morning, a curfew will be installed. Residents of Ninjago City and the outskirts will only be allowed outside from seven o’clock to eight thirty everyday. This is because Ninjago has seen an unexpected surge in dangerous crime recently, and we want to protect our citizens. If you do not obey...I advise you too.”

He darted off quickly as Gayle stepped back into focus. “Thank you Commissioner, and citizens, I beg you to take heed of his warnings. Despite the fact that we are avoiding it, someone must say these fateful words. Ninjago City is no longer safe with a murderer on the loose, and we must all be careful. Since the Mayor is incapcitated, his Deputy will be standing in for him until the elections. That said, the Old Ninjago party will not be running anymore. The Deputy has expressed her need to take a break from politics given all the recent drama. That’s all for now, and I hope your day is as good as ours!”

Lou switched the channel to some nature documentary as they continued to eat, the only sound the scraping against the plate. Cole offered to wash everything up, and Lou dried the dishes after him.

“I’ll pick you up from school today, after football practice. I don’t want you walking home or using the bus while that criminal is on the loose. Probably from the Sons of Garmadon.” His father shuddered. “Please keep safe, Cole. Ninjago City is dangerous at the moment, and you...having what you have, might attract some unwanted attention.”

“Right.” he mumbled. They hadn’t talked about his elemental powers since Lou had given him his mother’s journal. Now, he felt guilty about keeping it to himself, never once considering that his father would have wanted to read it. A selfish part of him that he disliked argued that his father had spent much more time with Lily than he had. “You know, when mum died...was it because of me?”

The cane in Lou’s hand slipped from his grasp. “ _ No!  _ Of course not Cole, why would you ever think that?”

“Just, in her journal she mentioned that after she gave birth to me, she got sick. It’s kind of obvious I gave her some disease or infection or something.” The tears brimming in his eyes were full of salty regret and guilt.

Lou guided him to the living room gently. “Cole, your mother was an incredibly strong woman. Her gift gave her a strong immune system, but she was diagnosed with stage one lung cancer shortly after you were born. You had  _ nothing  _ to do with it, Cole. Elemental masters heal very quickly, but even that couldn’t stop her from dying. We just delayed it for as long as possible. She wanted to give you time.”

Cole stared at the ground. So that was why she coughed so much. He stood up shakily, brushing away the tears with a sniffle. “Thanks for telling me, dad. I’m going to...yeah.”

“I love you, Cole.”

“Love you too dad.”

_ And I love you too, mum. _

**skylor**

Meditation was relaxing, especially after Liam chewed her ear off for something she didn’t remember doing.

The little room behind the lockers was a mess, but Skylor was far too tired to bother cleaning things up as her terrible headache was pounding at her head. She sipped at her water, checking the time on her phone. She’d have to hurry and leave now to get to class on time, but it hardly mattered since Dareth was filling in for the Politics section of their History class and they’d probably be watching a movie

True to her thoughts, Dareth ambled in ten minutes late, but with some form of lesson plan he drew up on the board.

“Today, wee kids, we’re covering the murder of the Mayor and his wife, as well as the impact it will have on Ninjago.” Dareth looked grimly at all of them. “I’m also required to teach you safety measures and protection skills. This class would have been taught by that Vance guy, but, he’s dead, so there’s that. Trust me, I’d rather show you all a movie but the school is concerned, and yaddah yaddah, here we are.”

The class stared at the usually uncomposed man. Dareth stared back, and then brought out a milkshake from behind him. 

“I’ll give this to anyone who can tell me when the crime occured, what motives and suspects the police provided and so on.”

A girl named Hannah cleared her throat nervously, and Nya, from across the room, shot Zane and Skylor concerned looks which she reciprocated. 

“They were, um, found, at seven thirtyish by their daughter, Harumi. And uh, because the elections were so close it might be a way to get rid of them?” Hannah’s voice quirked up at the end, and the class went silent as Dareth passed her the milkshake.

“Terrible, terrible news. Anything else?”

“The police found a Sons of Garmadon card and a Serpentine scale, which leads to the gang. They might be trying to interfere with the election or something.” Nya said, grimacing at the floor.

“Very good uh, assumption Miss Smith!” Dareth tossed her a squished mint and Skylor rolled her eyes. He obviously had come into the lesson with one question, a few treats and nothing else. “Now we don’t really have much information, which makes this mystery all the more...ahem, mysterious. Now, in the unlikely case you’re in danger, does anyone know some self-defence moves to get you out of a tricky situation?”

“Mr Dareth, didn’t you say you were a martial arts champion when you were younger?” called out Jareth.

“Well yes, but,” Dareth stammered, flustered and patting at his pockets. “That was a long time ago. Anyone?”

The class was silent, until a hoarse voice said “I can.”

Dareth took a double take at the role. “Who are you?”

“Astra Harlow. I switched from Art to History.”

“Right. Take it away!” Dareth cheered. 

“Yeah, with whatever you learnt from a Google article!” laughed Jake, slapping his friends on the back.

“You think you can do better?” the new girl crossed her arms. Skylor wanted to call out and tell her this was a very bad idea. She was obviously injured with a knee brace supporting her left leg, and she was the same stick build Skylor had. Not useful for fighting. Additionally, Jake was on the football team and worked out three times a week (or so he claimed), and had a background of kickboxing (again, a claim that seemed pretty solid). 

“Yeah.” he shrugged. “I’ll fight you to prove it.”

“Woah, woah!” Dareth laughed nervously. “No need for that...or is there?” the entertainer and showman inside of him awoke and Skylor groaned internally. She was pitying the poor girl already. 

The class whooped excitedly, with the exception of Nya and Zane, who probably were preparing themselves for the worst along with her.

“Outside, wee ones!” ushered Dareth, a terrible role model and example of a teacher. Still, the class was hungry for entertainment and distraction from the outside world and pushed and shoved to get outside to the courtyard. It was a square area of grass near the back of the school that didn’t have enough room to turn into a classroom, and students mostly came back there for privacy, or to make out.

The girl and Jake walked to the centre of the courtyard, the latter working up the crowd with jumps and cheers, the former pulled aside by a blonde kid and a girl with shiny black hair. They both looked like they were telling Astra off, but the girl ignored them and laughed quietly at whatever they were saying, flipping the ends of her two braids over her shoulder. Nya and Zane shuffled to Skylor’s side as everyone got ready, settling on the stone steps around the yard.

“She’s going to get smashed.” Nya whispered. 

Zane said nothing, and watched with intelligent eyes.

Dareth paraded around the square once, and then strode to the middle. “I don’t want any bad, um, stuff, you know? Just show what you’d do in your situation. Astra, you can be the attacker, Jake you can be the defender.”

“But aren’t girls more likely to get attacked?  _ I  _ should be the attacker, right boys?” Jake smirked to the crowd. 

“That’s true,” Astra countered. “The chances are low, but never zero. Hands up, idiot.”

Jake took a bit longer than needed to process this, and Astra’s hand shot out, aiming for his nose. He barely managed to get the back of his forearm up to deflect the blow. 

“Lucky shot.” someone muttered next to her. Skylor hated to agree with them as Jake launched a flurry of blows towards the poor girl. Her reflexes were even faster than his as she ducked and weaved out of the way, a thin smile on her face as she dropped to the ground in a relaxed squat. Jake laughed and prepared his next attack when she tumbled forwards naturally, dived for his right ankle with her hands and whilst on her back, she used her momentum to flip them both over in a corkscrew movement. Jake lay there on the ground for several seconds, panting and heavily winded while Astra got to her feet, brushing off her hands. 

The crowd gasped as Jake scrambled to his feet. “Oh, you are  _ so  _ in for it you bitch.”

Astra laughed and ducked his next wild punches easily. While avoiding his attacks, she dictated loudly, “Focus on the vulnerable areas. Eyes, nose, groin, and throat—” she stepped into a side kick delivered at the last area, but Jake swept her legs away and threw her to the floor. 

“I must admit, it was a surprise you’re somewhat passable,” Jake panted, cracking his neck.

Astra’s eyes narrowed as he stalked away, focused on something inked on the back of his ankle. Skylor tried to look at it closer, but the girl got to her feet and tossed back her braids. 

“Don’t aim for the chest.” She said, and promptly did so, smacking her elbow into Jake’s chest. He cockily laughed as he deflected her next attacks, counter striking efficiently.

“How are they both…” Nya trailed off. 

Skylor was equally confused. She’d seen the popular boys rough house before and Jake had never shown this amount of expertise. Dareth was fully enjoying himself when Skylor was pretty sure he should be putting a stop to the fight. She watched as Astra threw two pathetic punches, gauging Jake’s counters before repeating the same movement. Again, and again, she punched the same way, until Jake finally got riled up, growling and winding back his fist. She struck, spinning into a back hook kick that launched him a good few metres back.

“Not bad,” the girl grudgingly complimented. “But kind of bad, since I beat you.”

“Whatever.” Jake grunted, stemming the flow from his nose with his shirt. “But a real life situation wouldn’t go like that.”

“It might,” shrugged Astra, turning to the crowd. “But remember, eys, throat, groin and neck. Don’t go for the chest, use what you have on hand. If anything, you should avoid going to shifty areas where gangs like the Serpentine can attack you.” Her gaze shifted to Jake at those words as she wiped away the blood at her lip. “Work on your temper. It’s easy to get you mad like a bull.”

Then she walked away as the bell rang, her two friends dashing after her. Skylor cocked her head, but the drama was broken up and everyone headed to class.  _ Eyes, throat, groin and neck _ , she told herself, walking to the cafeteria for break. She mimed punching those areas on an imaginary figure who looked a bit like Liam, and grabbed her snack, wondering if she could dare sit with her friends today. But Liam was beckoning to her, and she felt bad for Harumi, who was sitting silently at the end of their table, her hair twisted into a low bun, her face free of makeup and her hands stuck to her phone.

***tw:sexual assault***

“Sky!” Liam grinned, pulling her close. Skylor hid the shiver that crawled down her back at such sudden contact and tried to put some distance between them, but Liam held on, shooting her a tense smile. 

Skylor ignored him as his hand wrapped around her waist tighter. She was eating her apple, keeping up the small talk with the rest of the table when his hand went up her skirt. Skylor froze and snapped her head to look at Liam, but he was busy talking to Chad, Jake and Kai. Her heart beat faster the longer his hand stayed there, doing  _ things  _ that should not be done, especially in the cafeteria. It was when he dared to try and flick the band of her underwear when she tried to stand up, but he forced her down with a smile and continued talking.

Skylor knew she had to get out of there, but there was no easy way to overthrow a freaking football player.

_ Eyes, nose, throat and groin _ .

Her eyes crossed to the half eaten apple, or the heavy napkin dispenser, and Skylor knew what to do. Trembling as his hand continued, Skylor faked reaching for a napkin, instead bringing the whole dispenser closer. Her left hand held the apple, her right the dispenser. She counted down quickly, and in a flash Skylor threw the apple as hard as she could at Liam’s throat, and chucked the dispenser at his groin, satisfied as he yelped and his hand withdrew from her skirt.

Sensing the cafeteria had eyes on them, Liam scowled, holding his throat with one hand.

“ _ Sit. Down. _ ”

“No thanks.” she muttered, fisting her hand. “We’re done.”

“What?”

“I said we’re  _ done _ , dickhead.” Skylor called louder.

“YES! You go queen!” someone yelled from across the room. 

She didn’t feel like a queen right now, just a scared girl who needed to run.

Liam rose from his seat, but was stopped when Kai forced him down by the shoulders. Skylor took the opportunity to flee the scene, gathering her books as she fled for the toilets, unable to stop sobbing in fear and panic as she locked herself into a stall. Her hair fell loose from the braid and formed a safe curtain around her as her body shook with tears, ruining her makeup, but it was ruining the makeup she’d never liked anyway. 

Skylor gagged as she touched her own skin, changing out of the outfit Liam had chosen for her into Chen's merch, and a pair of tracksuit pants, hiccuping and blinking through the tears.It hadn’t been the first time. He’d gone too far, far enough that she knew it was so  _ wrong  _ of him, and she couldn’t stand it anymore. Being his little plaything, showing up to parties and school dolled up and by his side, having every aspect of her life controlled by him.

At first it had been small signs she’d ignored, red flags she brushed aside because she actually felt she liked him. And then he started advising her on what to wear, what to look like, how to talk, act, and walk. He didn’t let her go anywhere without him, except that brief,  _ wonderful  _ holiday at the monastery when she was free of him. He got jealous when she so much as spoke with other guys, holding her hand so tight she bruised the next day.

Everything was too muddled right now to think properly, but Skylor knew one thing.

The next time she was ready to see Liam, his face would resemble a six year old’s drawing.

When she was ready.

**A/N: Please check out** [ **https://www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/sexual-assault-and-rape/sexual-assault** ](https://www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/sexual-assault-and-rape/sexual-assault)

**for more information on sexual assault. I am always here if you need to talk. As I’ve said before, this book has some pretty mature topics in it, but that’s pretty much as far as it will go. Nothing detailed. Iit isn’t very detailed or explicit, just the simple doings. Being honest, i have seen a lot of unwarned content on wattpad which i think is a lot more detailed than this, and i hope i’ve written it appropriately with the research and resources i had. If you want me to take out/redo this chapter please pm me!**

**-dommie out**


	39. [37] zane is missing something and no its not his humour switch

**lloyd**

Having siblings is infuriating, especially when you’re trying to comfort your almost-kinda-ish girl who is a friend, or maybe girlfriend, about her parents dying. And her finding their bodies.

He exhaled slowly and brushed his fringe out of his eyes, cursing as he stumbled over a random energy can. His relationship with Harumi was as confusing as the implemented lockdown that had gone in place this morning. On Tuesdays, he would have been out late getting ready for the pre-lacrosse season, but since the murders two weeks ago on a Sunday night, and Mr Spirdon two weeks before that, Lloyd was on the edge and a little pissed.

Silently, he slipped down the stairs and into the kitchen, using his phone light to rummage through the pantry and behind a box of wheat crackers no one ate to where his first secret stash of candy was. He retrieved a bag of gummy bears and snakes and then snuck back up the stairs, pulling away a long strand of a snake’s head with his teeth as he unlocked his phone.

**harumi.brassard:** _ lloyd? _

**lloyd_g:** _ sorry i was getting candy _

**harumi.brassard:** _ let me guess. gummy bears and snakes? _

**lloyd_g:** _ damn. right on the money rumi _

**harumi.brassard:** _ lloyd? _

**lloyd_g:** _ yeah? _

**harumi.brassard:** _ i feel sick _

**lloyd_g:** _ wait you’re not like- _

**harumi.brassard:** _ tf lloyd, no, you’re like the only boy im actually talking to rn. _

**lloyd_g:** _ sorry _

**harumi.brassard:** _ its fine _

**lloyd_g:** _ you dont sound fine _

**harumi.brassard:** _ and how would you know? _

**lloyd_g:** _ i can tell through the screen _

**harumi.brassard:** _ really. im fine. _

**lloyd_g:** _ wanna call instead? _

**harumi.brassard:** _...yes _

He nearly missed dinner through their two hour call, but Lloyd was okay with it. Kinda. Harumi seemed like she was determined to keep a solid mask of aloofness up, but when he talked to her, she crumbled easily. She was scarily fragile, and Lloyd wasn’t sure what to do except comfort her. The next day at school, Harumi was sitting at the popular table like nothing had ever happened. Then he received a message demanding he go outside and he excused himself from an ongoing argument about the latest DLC on some game to walk to the courtyard near the back of the school.

Harumi was already there, sitting silent on a bench, staring at the leaves carpeting the floor. He knew from her rigid posture that she wasn’t feeling well. He’d been speaking to her for well over a month, he realised as he sat down next to her. Her head immediately came to rest on his shoulder and she closed her eyes, the bangs of her hair sliding over.

“I’m tired.” she murmured. “The reporters keep coming to the house. The police are basically living in...that room, and I just want to sleep all the time.”

Lloyd hummed in response, his left arm crossing around her back to cradle her.

“Their faces were so pale. And my mother's hair was so messy. She never likes it like that. Father...his tie was red. So much blood.” Rumi whispered, her voice soft and wobbly. “I got a letter yesterday. From the Emperor and Empress of Ninjago, House Lotus?”

Lloyd shifted slightly to look at her as she continued.

“Apparently, my mother and father weren’t my actual parents. The Emperor and Empress gave me to them when I was a baby, because they had just risen to the throne and the Royal Houses were unstable. I am...their child.” Her voice quaked, almost in horror as Lloyd registered this. Rumi was a  _ princess _ ?

“I hate this. So many lies, so much blood.” she said, though it was more of a statement than a complaint. “I don’t want to go live in the palace.”

“You don’t have to go,” Lloyd tried with a weak smile. “You can stay with me, at the Smith’s place.”

She laughed. “I don’t think they like me very much. And I have to go. I’ve been ‘summoned’ by royalty, and if I ignore my heritage, I’ll be in trouble. At least I can use my  _ title  _ for good.”

“Like what?”

“Like if anyone sees me do this and has an objection, I’ll put them in a dungeon.”

“Do what—”

Rumi turned to him and leant forwards, gently pressing her lips to his. Her lips were very soft, Lloyd realised in numb shock. And then he remembered that kissing was probably a two person thing and then kissed her back, cupping her cheek with his hand. The awkward pause after they drew away was filled with a light giggle on Rumi’s part. 

“That was very nice.” Lloyd said stupidly. She laughed again, a lyrical, light sound that was making his stomach tumble. 

“I’ll see you after school.”

Right, she was talking about what would have been two friends meeting up but now was more than friends meeting up at the movies. His idea, to take her mind off everything. Turns out she’d taken his mind off anything and everything.

“You were right, Lloyd. That  _ was  _ a very nice kiss,” she said cheekily, skipping off before he could stop her.

Lloyd sat frozen on the bench, his fingertip brushing over his lips where she’d kissed him a few seconds ago. A burning sensation crossed his cheeks as he stumbled back inside the school for class, pushing his dazed brain through Science and Art.

o o o

“Lloyd! What the hell is up with you, man?” Cole pretended to rap on his skull, grinning.

“What? Oh, nothing.” He returned to walking back home before his  _ date  _ dare he say it, with Cole following along and Kai and Nya squabbling ahead of them.

“Hang on, you—you’re in  _ love _ !” Cole whooped, a cheshire grin replacing the confused expression.

“What? I—uh—what makes you say that?”

“Wait, no, more specifically...you kissed someone!”

“How do you know that? This is so freaky dude.”

“So I am right,” Cole cackled, “Never doubt the power of Mister Matchmaker!”

“Hey, what’s happening?” Kai butted in, dragging Nya along. 

“Lloyd kissed someone!” Cole revealed with the air of a showman. “Like a full on, lips on lips kiss. How crazy is that? This little guy—”

“Lloyd? You  _ kissed  _ someone?”

“Why do you find that so hard to believe, Nya? I am a very capable kisser and I think R—”

“So her name begins with an R,” Kai mused. “We’ve already got enough information to find her, Lloyd. You might as well give up now.”

“I have.” he grunted. “But maybe your ape brains will run into a roadblock.”

“ _ Hey _ !”

**pixal**

Frowning, she rubbed at her eyes and then looked at the screen’s data again. Someone had inputted the data for their experiment wrongly, and she’d have to fix it. With a sigh, Pixal began clearing the cells and typing in her own data from her notebook, a slow, tedious process with the amount of trials and data they had to collect. Luckily, she wouldn’t be dragged out by her friends since it was well after the night curfew and Pixal’s room was well shadowed in darkness.

She took a break to visit the kitchens on another level, refilling her mug with steaming hot chocolate and a side of biscuits and marshmallows carefully carried back to the lift and up to her room with her tongue poking out in concentration. 

The data table was completed a few minutes before midnight when Pixal heard a scream. She set down her snack and drink, rolled up her sleeves and went to the lift palming a butter knife and sharp eyes. It was another scream, a man’s scream, followed by a crash that prompted her to take the stairs again, her systems pinpointing the source of noise on the fifty-third floor.

Her father’s residency.

Pixal forced her legs twice as fast forwards down the stairs, taking shortcuts where available while she continued tracing the yelling and pandemonium. She spotted a few workers and beta droids scurrying towards the same direction, but it was she who arrived there first. Her hand flew to her mouth at the scene before her. Her father, Cyrus Borg had been thrown out of his wheelchair and to the floor, a steady hand pointing the sword being held to his throat. As soon as his frenzied eyes laid on hers, he gestured wildly for her to leave.

Pixal ignored them and cautiously approached the assassin - that was all they could be, dressed in black, and double blades in their hands. The door behind her shut with a gust of wind.

“Please step away from my father,” She pleaded, her voice unwavering despite the fear hammering in her core. The butter knife dropped to the floor as the second sword levelled with her throat.

“Your maker is lucky, android.” Their voice was garbled with a vocal changer, deep and glitched. “I suggest you leave the room and spare yourself the sight.”

“Step away from my father,” Pixal repeated, though there was nothing she could do. Her hand crept to her pocket where her phone was. If she called the police, it was possible she could stall the situation.

“Drop the phone. Now.” Ordered the distorted voice, jabbing the blade again. Pixal frowned, but dropped her phone to the ground where it lay alongside the butter knife. “You are wasting my time.”

_ That’s the point _ , Pixal wanted to blurt out, but her father was shaking in fear, his shoulders sagging in defeat. He’d already accepted his fate.

“You know, this may be more threatening than actually killing you in cold blood, Borg. Consider yourself warned. If you don’t get us our product before the deadline, I’ll be back to finish the job.” Then they leapt through the hole that had been cut through the glass window, their parachute billowing out to reveal a crude drawing of the SOG’s logo. Pixal blinked at the harsh wind zipping around the room, bending down to help her father back into his wheelchair, her silent boiling anger at that assassin for hurting her father remaining deep down.

“I am perfectly fine, Pixal.” His weary voice said, patting her on the shoulder. “You worry too much for me.”

“Who were they?” She herself was surprised at the sharp tone, and so was her father. “I apologise, father, I am just concerned for your safety. What did they mean about the deadline? And the ‘job’?”

“I am handling it, Pixal.”

“You nearly died! I do not consider that  _ handling  _ it father. Please let me help.”

“Pixal, although you will grow to be wiser than anyone - perhaps tied with Zane or Evan, you are still learning. Growing. Adapting. This is a harsh world and it is parental instinct to coddle you and protect you so you learn to defend yourself. I cannot tell you what is happening.”

Somewhat mollified, she softened her harsh glare at his broken posture, a man defeated, who hated defeat and failure.

“I am here if you need to talk, father. I’ll let security and cleanup in to organise this. Would you like some hot chocolate?”

“Yes, I think I do.”

o o o

The media had caught wind early of the assasination attempt, following a cold trail of clues until it led to the incident two nights ago. Borg Industries could only keep the hounds away for so long, and Pixal was taking extreme measures to stay hidden from news stations and their naggy reporters. 

At least their attention was drawn away when the reclusive Emperor and Empress of Ninjago had stepped out of the shadows for just a second, to claim Harumi Brassard as their child - now of the Royal House Lotus. She’d been watching the event on the big television in their living room, amazed by how Harumi had seemed so composed and put together although her foster parents had been killed just over two weeks ago. Yet her schoolmate’s gaze kept searching the crowd before her as her biological parents cooed over a girl they’d given to the ex-Mayor’s family. 

However, the grandness and the magnitude of the event could not surpass the curfew - which now had been pushed by the government to become even more restricting. School was taken online, and police were shutting down on crime, working harder than ever to keep the influx of felony reduced. Ever since the murders, smaller crimes had been ignored in favour of having the full police force work on these cases. Pixal didn’t mind too much as she didn’t go out unless required, although some of her more extroverted and active friends were constantly complaining about it.

Online classes were very awkward and Pixal heavily wished whoever was running around killing important, powerful people would stop. Master Wu still had not returned, which Pixal was surprised by. Wherever he was, surely the news would have spread there? Pixal knew few moves to defend herself, only examples of what Astra had shown in their class during the fight. Four vulnerable points would give her time to run away from one person, but Pixal would rather have a range of knowledge behind her. 

With some vague questions to her father, she gained the knowledge that as an android she had the ability to download data into her processor and have the skill immediately learnt. She would have preferred learning this the longer way for the experience, but time was hard-pressed these days between keeping a close eye on the news and a wary gaze on the streets. Annoyingly enough, security had doubled at Borg Tower.

Pixal was proud of her father for becoming the number one supplier of technology in Ninjago, but sometimes it was strange and irritating to have someone following you around in case you were kidnapped and held ransom for expensive technology. It was this that formed a bond between her and Skylor, both daughters of fathers who held empires in different districts. She talked to Nya more than Skylor, but their recent complaints and conversation gave Pixal confidence to tell her best friend that she was an android.

Skylor’s reaction was pretty similar to Nya’s. Disbelief, until she had proved it, and then acceptance. Pixal was lucky she had such a close knit group of friends that made her feel safe. But the fact that the curfew was being pushed to its boundaries, the police were struggling with crime, and the assassinations and attempts were still occuring was shaking her up.

**zane**

Evan, even though he was a robot, was fragile. His father hadn’t the resources he’d had to build Zane from, and he was mostly scraps fitted together. Zane would do anything for Evan and his father, but his younger brother’s slightly rebellious behaviour was getting to him. He was barely making the cut for curfew, trying to get Zane to leave earlier than allowed, begging to stay out of with friends.

He didn’t want to seem overbearing, but for the first time in a while, he had people he truly cared about, and would be heartbroken if they were hurt in any way. It was a painstaking two weeks for all of them since the adjusted lockdown, online school was tedious and rowdy, but Zane carried on through this dark tunnel with confidence the police would track down the murderer, assuming it was all done by the same person.

He was confident in this.

He kept his head down, attended school, cooked with his family, played games and chess, watched the TV and continued faithfully with his meditation. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. That people weren’t trying hard enough. Perhaps the Sons of Garmadon had infiltrated the Police Department and were trying to slow down their progress. Then there was the matter of the ‘nullification’ they had brainstormed over a month ago that night the Mayor and his wife had been killed.

There was the possibility that Garmadon knew of their powers, which Lloyd thought was plausible, and that he was trying to stop them from using it. He’d suggested Vengestone as the solution to how they’d been blocked, and that seemed to be the only answer. What else could stop an elemental master? Zane was reluctant to jump to conclusions with insufficient evidence, but what else did they have? More importantly, what else could they do, other than lounging around in fear and theorising?

He shook his head to himself, marking off another task on his calendar. He’d begun to note the assassinations as well as attempts on his phone, and a short, risky pattern was beginning to show up. The only fault was the one week difference between the murder of Vance Spirdon and the Mayor and his wife. Then it was a two week gap between them and the attempt on Cyrus Borg.

Therefore, it seemed safe to assume that either a week or two weeks after Cyrus Borg would be another assasination. It had been just over two weeks, but Zane’s theory operated on the fact that all these murders had been carried out by the same person, or the same group. It was likely. Most of the crime was carried out by stand-alone ruffians that were hired on by the gangs of the city. The Sons of Garmadon, Serpentine, Ghost and Skulkins were the four biggest and well-known crime gangs around.

It was late afternoon, but Zane had already completed the homework for online school. A ping from his phone alerted him to an email from the school’s secretary. A smile crossed his face. Tomorrow, they’d be returning to proper school. He tossed his phone back and turned on the television, putting the news channel on low in the background. They were still jabbering on about the attempt on Cyrus Borg’s life, and how his daughter Pixal Borg had saved him in an act of bravery. 

There were blurry pictures flashing across the screen, but they were mostly shadowed by the dark night, offering no real information apart from suspense. The last picture, however, taken from someone’s balcony was of the parachute, cutting a clean picture of the logo on the material. It clearly was associated with the SOG and only backed up Zane’s theory. It also matched with what Pixal had told Zane when they went out for lunch earlier that week.

Despite this, Zane couldn't rid himself of the naggy voice in the back of his head that insisted he was missing something.

Something big.

**A/N: okay i know lloyd’s part was very dialogue heavy, but take it or leave it (jokes, i loved writing this even though i felt like gagging at the kiss. Not the llorumi part, just romance in general)**

**AND HOLF CRAPPY POG WE HIT** **_100K_ ** **WORDS??? HOLY SHIT- i never, believe me,** **_ever_ ** **thought that mos would get this far or this fat. From this point, i can tell you there will be three-four more chapters to the end, with an additional epilogue.**

**-dommie out**


	40. [38] pogging through the pain rn

**kai**

He weaved through the pack at the front of the school building, excited enough to be glad that they were attending school in person this time, but somewhat annoyed at how he’d adjusted to online school and waking up later with perfectly sleep-tousled hair. When he’d walked into homeroom, he’d been met with a safety measures presentation that was heavily reinforced and repeated to be drilled into their student’s brain. Additionally, they were offering self-defence classes after school, just in case.

Kai sincerely doubted he’d be learning to fight anytime soon.

Obviously he had basic punches and kicks down, he’d learnt enough from the multitude of fights he’d been in at school. There was one fight he was interested to hear about. Before online school, apparently there had been a fight during a history politics class, which Nya, Skylor and Zane were in. 

Because the fight had been ‘organised’, especially with VP Dareth subbing in, word hadn’t spread around as much. But Kai was a gossip kid, and he knew practically everything going on in Ninjago High. Also, one of the fight participants was his friend and had been meekly slipping into school after being ruled as defeated.

“Psst—Rema!  _ Rema! _ ”

“What is it, Kai?” said the annoyed girl, clearly trying to let him know she didn’t want to talk.

Kai ignored that and said, “Hey, you’re friends with that Astra girl right? The one who fought Jake a couple of weeks ago?”

“Yes,” she replied in the same snappish tone. “Why?”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I think they  _ fought _ .”

“No, like, more context.”

Rema stared at him, then heaved a sigh. “VP Dareth had the idea to teach the class self defence, and Astra volunteered to teach anyone. She ended up fighting Jake and they were unnaturally good fighters, or so Kade and Bells said. Didn’t last too long besides all the jabbering, but in the end, Astra won.” She put emphasis on her friend’s name and turned around again.

Kai considered nagging Rema for more details and decided against it since she was spinning a sharp pencil between his fingers absentmindedly, and if provoked further, he would probably be stabbed somewhere accidentally. Or purposefully.

He scanned the room, looking out of the windows carefully. There was an annoying voice in the back of his head that constantly warned him of that white-haired girl. He’d found out that Nya had nearly died from a gigantic branch crushing her, only managing to twist out of the way to avoid it. The next time he saw that girl, she was dead. He’d seen her a lot as well, especially when he was with Lloyd or Nya, following from afar in grim shadow.

Their homeroom teacher finished rattling through the announcements for the day and let them relax until they left for the first period. Kai leaned back in his chair, dangerously balanced on two of the back legs whilst scrolling through social media. The teacher was being egged on by students to put on the TV to watch Netflix for five minutes, and she gave in. Kai dropped his eyes from a chocolate souffle tutorial he was just watching and never baking, to see her switch it on, the news channel beginning it’s intro.

He went back to figuring what fahrenheit to celsius was unsuccessfully when the television screeched horribly and his chair slammed back down onto the ground with Kai barely clinging on. The screen was glitching crazily and one of the other students was trying to fiddle with the back controls when the screen flickered white, and then a scene came into view.

Just to add to the spooky atmosphere, the lights in the classroom flashed once brightly, and then darkened. The camera was jostling as the figure in front ran through a corridor shadowed by torches flaming in their brackets. The mic picked up no sound - the long runner underneath their booted feet was eliminating the noise.

What the hell were they doing?

The class watched, enthralled, as the duo continued racing through the halls of some unknown house. They finally stopped outside gigantic double doors emblazoned with a gold lotus. The person in view of the camera smiled slightly - a shit eating grin that snuck through the slip of a gap between their mask and the hood covering their eyes.

A silent countdown passed between the people on the screen, three seconds passing until they barrelled through the door and the camera person set the tripod down and leapt into battle. Kai gasped along with the other students as he realised who was benign ambushed. In a high ceilinged hall, the Emperor and Empress of Ninjago were struggling with the two assassins - what else could they be? Pizza delivery boys?

The guards surged forwards in an organised push, trying to combat the flurry of strokes cutting through them. Ten of the Royal Guard had been disarmed, either dead or unconscious. The remaining five looked at the blood-dripping duo and fled cowardly. The camera was still running, and the original filmer tweaked with it again to zoom in on the thrones, where the two royals were crouched in hiding. The filmer stalked back into view, shaking off their hood to reveal a head of bright green hair. 

They palmed another dagger - one free of blood, and Kai quickly looked at the class where most were frozen to the screen, some passed out, and the teacher frantically on the phone in a hushed argument. Green Hair paused for a second, and then the room was filled with a green gas. The other assassin was tossed a gas-mask strapped to Green Hair’s belt. Was Green Hair immune to this toxic gas?

And how the fuck did the gas come out of nowhere?

The Emperor was using the Empress as a shield, shaking violently behind her as she brandished a dinner knife in a semicircle of guard. It did nothing, though and the two assassins advanced on the cowering couple. The royals were growing weaker as the gas exhausted them. When they were just conscious, the first assassin struck.

Their dagger sliced across the Emperor’s throat in one neat slash.

Green Hair took the Empress out the same way and stared at the royal’s body with a pitying glance.

Kai’s mouth hung open, head blocking out the screams of terror from his classmates.

They let the limp bodies of the royals flop to the ground like old fish, looking to the camera imperiously.

“It has come to our attention that you, the loyal public, were not told the truth. We didn’t like that, and I suspect you wouldn’t, either.” Green Hair’s voice turned to a stage whisper. “I heard a rumour that the Emperor and Empress blackmailed and killed their way to the throne. Illegitimate royals.”

“Here’s another rumour. The true ruler didn’t mind keeping to themselves. And then they realised what they could do with their  _ true  _ royal heritage.”

“Want to take a stab at another rumour that you’ve heard? That little girl who the Mayor had his wife cared for wasn’t even their  _ daughter _ . It was the Emperor and Empress’s child, hidden away. They hid an entire  _ person _ from you in plain sight, not to mention the corrupting running deep in our seats of power.”

“I’m willing to bet anyone watching, that those rumours are the stone-cold truth.”

“This is a new age in Ninjago, faithful citizens. Nothing can keep you safe anymore — not even the long  _ forgotten  _ elementals.”

“I suggest you stay indoors for the next twenty four hours,” Not Green Hair cackled, flipping the dagger as he spoke. Kai shivered at the way his voice rang a distant bell. He sounded like Lloyd, but with a deeper voice. “We are plundering the city for anything useful - anything  _ we  _ want. We’ve destroyed your imbecilic social power hierarchy, nullified the mythical elements, damaged  _ far  _ more than you know, and that’s just the beginning.”

He paused, cocking his head. “I suppose, if you were smart enough, you’d start running.”

Green Hair pointed their hand to the camera, as if on command, a black gas covered the camera and they kicked it over on their way out, the shatter barely caught by the broken mic. 

And then an ear-shattering  _ boom!  _ rang out from outside the school, the building shaking as the structure began to crumble. Screaming and shrieking overlapped each other, sirens wailing desperately as students fought their way out of the classroom with no regard for anyone else’s safety and only themselves. 

The Sons of Garmadon were trying to bomb the city.

**astra**

There was so much pushing to get to the main entrance that she decided to double back and take a side exit. Lloyd Garmadon and Zane Julien from her homeroom flashed past, yelling for their other friends. Astra caught sight of Annabella trying to get out and yanked on her arm, dragging her towards the exit she’d mapped out in her head.

“Follow me!” She gasped, fighting the flow of the crowd.

“Astra—”

“What?”

Bells pointed upwards at the cracks webbing across the ceiling. 

“Move!” She barked, hauling her friend away from the fragile structure. “Out, by the cafeteria doors!”

Annabella nodded firmly, hugging her art notebook closer to her chest. Astra began to double back when her friend asked, “What about you? We’re nearly there!”

“Kade and Zander are in the same homeroom. I’ll get them out.”

“Starra, just because you won that one fight does  _ not _ mean you’re invincible—

“Go!” She shoved her friend along and then dashed for her other two friend’s homeroom. Up a floor, zig zagging across the corridor to avoid the holes and chunks missing from the floor. From the floor above, a boulder was blocking the students in. Kade and Zander’s panicked faces gave her just enough strength to heave the boulder over. 

“Follow me!” Ignoring their questions, she pulled them towards the stairs she’d taken and then swore as the stairs weren’t there anymore. They were the pile of rubble where the foot of the staircase should be. The bars from the metal structure were still there, however, and she easily swung herself down, wincing at the twinge in her brace-supported knee. 

A chunk of unforeseen ceiling plummeted towards her injured knee and bounced off, scratching the skin and bruising the just-healed muscles and bone there. She let out a string of curses and bit back the pain, encouraging her friends to come down.

From the floor above, Kade gaped and then lowered himself down, his towering height making it easier for him to land on coordinated feet. Zander peered down and shook his head at Kade and Astra’s cradled arms.

“I’m not jumping.”

The building shook again, and the window nearby Zander shattered.

“Catch me.” He grimaced, and then let himself fall down. Their interlocked arms supported his rough landing, but the bandy-legged boy sprung to his feet. They both looked to her for guidance, nervously hopping from foot to foot at the constant rumbles, like a secret volcano was teasing them in eruption. She quickly explained her plan to get out through the cafeteria doors where Annabella might still be, and then running from there. 

Maybe she could take them to the underground catacombs where the SOG base was. Then Cassie’s sharp, constant reminder about HQ being a  _ secret _ played in her mind, though that was pretty hypocritical since Cassie had shown up with Astra randomly. 

“Just run,” she repeated, and took off with her friends keeping pace. Zander was out of breath by the time they made it to the cafeteria, but Kade’s  _ footballness  _ was keeping him in shape. The small field that led out to another street that was empty, some chunks of the ground randomly blown up and scattered across.

There was one patch that didn’t seem affected and Astra led the trio over to it, removing the comm from her bag and clipping it onto her ear. A lot of secrets seemed to have come into light — the freaking royals were cold-blooded killers who lied their way to the throne, these people were acting up against them and the empires ruling the city.

“Command code ‘toad in a hole’,” Astra whispered, unlocking the comm’s features. “Route to—”

Pain flared through the new injury on her knee and she gasped as it sharpened into a searing curve around the injured area. Her attempts at keeping it hidden had failed, but it was hard to conceal it when she could barely walk. Limping over to a half-blown up picnic table, Astra sat down and kept her eyes off the bleeding. 

“I can fix it,” Kade said confidently, crouching to examine it.

“No you can’t,” she rebutted, pointing at her knee without looking. “I probably broke it again and—”

Suddenly the pain had eased and she risked a look back. Kade’s hands were glowing a pale yellow, honey-orange threaded through. His brow was furrowed in concentration, his tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth like it always did when he was absorbed in his work. 

“You’re an elemental master too,” she breathed, staring at his handiwork. 

“ _ Too _ ? What the heck do you mean  _ too _ ?” screeched Zander, squawking in distress at the magically healed wound.

All she had to do was summon a thought of her bastardly parents and her left hand went alight with a dark purple mass that swirled around it lazily. Hurriedly, she imagined a better memory, one with her friends, and it went away. Then she scowled. All her powers could do was float around like a party trick - whereas Kade,  _ Kade _ , of all people could use his to actually do something.

“Master of Death, pleased to meet you.” she smirked, sticking out her hand teasingly.

Kade took it cautiously as if expecting it to relight itself. “Master of Healing, kind of freaked out, but, pleased to meet you too.”

“And I’m the Master of What-the- _ hell _ -is-going-on. Context, people!” Zander whisper-shrieked.

“We’re elemental masters. Dunno how Kade is one, but we just got gifted with these powers and boom! Explanation done, I’m taking you to HQ.” 

“What’s HQ?” Kade said, puzzled and running a hand through his floppy hair. 

“Ah,” She remembered she hadn’t told them the bit about being part of the Sons of Garmadon. “I’m...part of a gang?”

Zander opened his mouth in horror but she shot him a silencing glare. “Don’t question it, just hold tight. And while we’re waiting, Kade, maybe give Zaz a proper rundown on the whole elemental thing. Oh, and I expect answers later. How the hell do you just keep that—never mind.”

She stepped aside to call, nervously chewing on her lip as the line buzzed and then was finally picked up. 

“Troya! The school got bombed, and it turns out Kade is the Master of freaking Healing, and I think we should bring my friends back to base. Can you bring a few bikes out or some form of transport? Also, I fucked up my knee again but Kade kinda fixed that? I think, anyway—”

“Hey! Calm down. Of course we know about the bombs, the whole city’s been attacked. The explosives are actually Blast Sap in a contained form. We’ve known Kade was the Master of Healing for a long time, did he not tell you? I really don’t think it’s a good idea to bring outsiders into this. We’ve got our hands full what with our attacks—”

“ _ You  _ attacked the palace?”

“I—I need to go take care of some loose ends.”

Cassie rudely ended the call and Astra scowled, walking back to her friends.

“That plan’s fucked. I don’t think HQ is safe. Anyone have ideas on where to go?”

“I do.”

“Bells!” Kade cheered, running to their friend and giving her a tight hug. Astra looked at the hug, the scowl still on her face. “Did you want a hug too?” Kade suggested nonchalantly.

“No,” she bit out, completely saying the opposite of what she really wanted. “Bella, what do you have?” She hated that she wanted a hug. Hugs were touchy-feely. Touchy feely meant touching people unnecessarily. Like unnecessary punches, by unwrapped hands, or a sharp piece of glass against your skin from a broken beer bottle.

“My family has a cabin in the Woodlands. We can go there, I know the pincode for the lock.”

The Woodlands were the only forested area in Ninjago City. Fortunately, it was close enough to school that they could walk. It was distanced away from high traffic roads and areas, designed to give campers the quiet mountain atmosphere.

“We should probably get going,” Astra looked up at the sky to see choppers heading out. “I don’t think those people like elementals very much.”

“Elementals? Who—”

“Don’t bother.” Zander chuckled hoarsely as they set off. “Turns out Astra and Kade are elemental masters.”

“What the…”

He shook his head solemnly, though the corners of his mouth were barely turned up in a smile. “I know.”

o o o

The four friends reached the cabin during late afternoon, when the sun was at its peak and beating down hot rays. Luckily, the shade of the gigantic trees in Woodlands protected them from it. Kade didn’t fare well in any sort of heat and was trudging along desolately. Every once in a while, another booom would ring out and they’d all shudder, but continue walking with their heads down.

The cabin was designed to fit the four person family of the Han’s, built out of halved wood logs around the outside, and the porch in front held a simple rocking chair and a wood locker built as a bench. Bells entered the pin code that served as the lock, and it beeped once in conformation. Everyone sighed in relief as they entered, Astra included. 

Immediately, Thorn’s gruff voice echoed in her mind.  _ DEAWS, Reaper. Whenever you enter a new area, always run through DEAWS _ . The acronym was a basic procedure for all SOG members. The steps were designed to analyse a situation quickly. The  **d** anger here was very little. If anything, large woodland animals posed more of a threat than anyone who decided to follow four kids.  **E** scape routes only seemed to be through the front and back doors of the cabin. 

Shaped into an L, the front door poked out with the short lower line of the L, and the longer part was the body of the cabin. There was a squashy kitchen, the dinged up table there outlined with four chairs for eating and preparation space. There were two large beds sectioned off with a curtain from the main area, and the bathroom was a little shack with a shower and a toilet outside. A long sofa and an armchair served as the lounging space, an old television with a DVD player on the low table opposite it.

Astra’s  **a** llies right now were questionable. She could trust her friends - she’d trust them with her life, of course, but then came the matter of the Sons of Garmadon. Who were possibly - and now with Cassie’s slight slip up earlier, it seemed probable that they were behind all the murdering, plundering and attacks in the city.

As for her  **w** eapons, well, the only semi-dangerous things she could use here were the kitchen knives. Or a very large stick. Frowning to herself, Astra walked outside and scouted out the area around the cabin for the final step,  **s** can. Just as she was about to walk back in, a heavy thump from behind her made her jump into a defensive pose. There was nothing there but a black bag with a mini parachute sporting the SOG logo.

She frowned once again, and nudged the bag with her foot. Nothing inside moved, so she bent down to unzip it. A grim smile crossed her face at the familiar katana and double knives in their scabbards, and the bow assembled in cross bow form. There was a quiver of twenty four arrows, and a pouch of extra bolts, as well as a backup quiver of more arrows.

Underneath all of it, there was her uniform. Her official one, one she wasn’t supposed to wear for a couple more weeks. Yet here she was, debating whether or not she should take that subtle hint that no matter what, she was still in the Sons of Garmadon. She needed the weapons, and she’d rather be in familiar clothes than her school ones shooting and fighting. 

Astra lugged the bag inside and heaved it onto one of the beds. Immediately, her nosy friends looked in and furrowed their brows in confusion. 

“Why do you have an entire armoury in a random bag?” Bells raised a quizzical eyebrow as Astra unpacked everything efficiently. “Should I be concerned?”

“You should always be concerned for Astra,” Zander mumbled. “Elemental master Si’s tuba.” 

Astra snorted at his comment and pulled the crossbow back to full draw, testing to make sure nothing had been tampered with. She changed into the uniform, which was mirror to the one Cassie had worn in that alleway all those months ago. Leaving the hood off her head, she strapped the katana to her left hip, and the knives to her right in their double scabbard. She hadn’t used the knives recently and her training in them was sparse, so they’d be a last resort.

She was about to offer a dulled-down explanation of her current predicament when the window behind them shattered. Astra yelled for her friends to get down, but they were already on the floor, clapping their hands over their ears to stop the ringing from the gunshot. Astra had spent time with guns and reverb, so her ears weren’t as affected.

Risking a look back, she swore at the hole in the glass. If she hadn’t sensed or heard the shattering, the bullet would have gone straight through her head.

Someone was trying to kill her.

When she looked again, she cursed loudly. Jake, the kid from school which she beat up in a fight Jake, was standing outside with the gun he’d just fired to kill. Her suspicions were confirmed. During the fight, while she was on the ground and had a look at his ankles, Astra had seen the curving tattoo of a snake that wound around his ankle.

The Hypnobrai section of the Serpentine organisation.

Turns out she wasn’t the only kid at school in a gang.

**nya**

_ Kai _ . She had to find Kai, where the hell was he?

It was late afternoon and she was utterly alone, none of her friends in sight, nothing to aid her or help her in the slightest. Her phone had been crushed by a chunk of wall when the first explosion had really wrecked Ninjago High. Walking down her street, Nya kept to one pavement and tugged at her shirt, swearing as he fingers slipped through one of the many rips spotting it.

The rest of her attire was in similar form, damaged by the bombs that had rained down and exploded. For a while, she hadn’t dared to go back home. What if that white-haired assassin was there again? But after watching it from a bramble of bushes across the street for hours with a grumbling stomach, it seemed no one was there.

Nya paused outside the door and dug in her bag - now held together with a knot in the bottom - for her keys. Heart beating like wild drums in her chest, Nya turned the key and slipped in. She paused in the hallway, listening for any tell-tale squeaks or footsteps. The silence gave her confidence to step into the kitchen.

Darkness shrouded the room, but Nya was reluctant to turn on the lights in case someone was watching. Instead, she crawled on her knees to the pantry, grabbing a bag that was more intact and stuffing life items into the bottom. Then she transferred her necessary belongings from her school bag to that duffle bag and decided to go up the stairs for better clothes. 

Out of nowhere, the steady thrum of rain fell into the background and Nya watched it for a second, the melancholy feeling sending a shiver down her spine. She ignored it and stared at the knife block on the kitchen door.

Then something squeaked.

The front door. Nya’s hand grabbed the biggest knife and her hand shook as she held it. The footsteps were cautious, and she watched with eagle eyes as they came closer.

The person who rounded the corner was Kai.

Sobbing in relief, Nya dropped the knife to the counter with a clatter and ran to hug her brother. It was ironically parallel to that night all those months ago when she had been studying at the table, the door had flung open and she grabbed the same knife, ready to kill Kai.

“Are you okay?” Kai held her by the shoulders and scanned her down.

She took the opportunity to do the same, her body still shivering slightly. His clothes were in the same state as hers, and he seemed uninjured except from a bruise on his cheek. 

“Yes. Where are the others?” 

“Coming,” he mumbled, waving his hand vaguely to the door. “I found Cole and Lloyd, and Jay texted me to say he was coming. I haven’t heard anything from Pixal or Zane or — Skylor, but I sent them messages to tell them to meet here.” her brother heaved a shaky breath and clenched his fists. “I called your phone like a thousand times—”

“It got crushed,” she explained quickly. “We need to get our stuff and leave.”

“Leave for  _ where _ ? Our friends are coming and we have nowhere to run, the city is getting bombed and—”

“I don’t know, okay!” Nya snapped. “Why don’t  _ you  _ be the older sibling for once, since you actually are, and make a plan!”

Kai opened his mouth, but the door squeaked open again and Nya’s hand flashed to the knife as they crouched behind the counter, glaring at each other angrily.

“Kids?” called out a familiar voice.

Nya peeked her head just a bit over the counter and nearly dropped the knife in surprise.

“Mom?”

**A/N: ahhhhh this chapter is four thousand words! And expect it, kids, since this is about to get epic. I cannot tell you how long ive been preparing for this and I-**

**These a/n’s are gonna be short so you can mull over what’s happened so far, but i do have one hint: pay attention to their hair ;)**

**-dommie out**


	41. [39] chaos ensures but i organised it so its okay dw

**jay**

He’d been running for a long time now, and Jay generally hated running. 

However, he needed to get somewhere safe - and that seemed to be at the Smith’s house. Hopefully everyone else was there with a plan or something so they could get out of the city. Those people on the TV had specifically mentioned elemental masters more than once - and it seemed like they hated them. Really,  _ really  _ I-want-to-kill-you hate. The best solution, in Jay’s opinion, was to run somewhere else.

Jay stopped outside the front door to the Smith’s house and frowned. There was talking inside. He could make out Kai and Nya’s voices, and then another pair. It  _ sounded  _ like their parents, but weren’t they supposed to be away for work?  _ You have to go in at some point _ , he pointed out to himself,  _ but I could also wait here until they come out. Sure, I might starve since I haven’t eaten since six thirty this morning and I really need water, and maybe a bed to sleep in- _

But before Jay could continue his debate against himself, the door opened. Nya stood there, looking utterly exhausted but with a smile on her face.

“Jay!” she dragged him inside and then tossed him an instant noodle cup, pointing to the kettle boiling. “You need to eat.”

“What?”

“I could hear your stomach grumbling from outside,” she chuckled. “And we’re all starving.”

“All?” He said nervously, looking around with the expectation of getting ambushed. 

“Me, Kai, my dad and my mum,” Nya counted on her fingers, pouring water into her own cup. “They’re upstairs getting stuff so we can leave.”

“Great! Where are we going?”

“I honestly don’t know,” she shrugged and slurped the broth from her noodles. “But I’m trying to get them to wait for the others. We need to get all the other elemental masters we know out.”

“You think this attack is directed at us? It seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to.”

“That, and they seemed to want to put this mysterious person on the throne. Tea?” Nya offered him a cup of steaming tea, swirling with shavings of their Amnestone supply.

He accepted it gratefully and ate hungrily between sips of tea. “I can’t believe they just...killed them like that.” Jay gagged slightly as he recalled the maliciousness with which the SOG assassins had slit the royal’s throats. And so easily, too.

As Jay was about to ask if he could have another instant noodle cup when a shout rang out from upstairs, followed by a crash and a scream. Nya and Jay dropped their food and sprinted up the stairs, Nya leading the way to the master bedroom. The door was wide open and barely hanging off its hinges, revealing a horrifying scene before them. The big window was shattered, and Kai, Maya and Ray were fighting off four masked assailants.

“You’re outnumbered,” Jay announced pompously. 

Nya elbowed him in the stomach and hissed, “Great, now they know we’re here. We could have used the element of surprise.”

“Ha! That’s funny, because we’re…I’ll shut up.” He raised his hands and threw out two experimental punches. “Prepare to get  _ shocked  _ by our amazing—oh and you’re—”

The attackers ignored Jay and went back to trying to kill his friend and his parents. Jay looked around the room and found a vase which was empty of flowers, but had medium sized rocks weighing the base down. He picked up two and began pelting the enemy with them. They seemed mildly annoyed by it, and that was all Jay needed. A distraction, which the other three Smiths took to get behind cover. 

“Nice job,” Nya grinned, and then picked up a rock of her own and hurled it perfectly to the back of an assassin’s head. He flopped forwards, out stone cold and Jay stared at Nya in admiration. “What?” She snapped, though she had a proud smile. “We still have to help, don’t just stand there.”

Jay snapped out of it and resumed his aerial volley of attacks, inching closer to Ray to buy him time to get downstairs. The father was cornered by the slightest of the attackers against a dresser table.

“Duck!” he called, and Ray did so as Jay’s rock spun through the air and fell to the ground, knocked back by a freaking  _ sword _ . “Do you mind putting that away?”

The sword-wielder snarled and leapt forwards in an overhead swing. Jay whimpered to himself as he rolled out of the way, completely forgetting that Ray Smith was behind him with nowhere to go. Jay yelled out, stretching out a hand, but it was too late. The blade continued its murderous arc, but Ray’s arm went under the dresser and pulled out his own sword, crossing against the sword just in time.

Ray jumped to his feet and began to parry the attacks coming towards him, exchanging a look with Maya. His wife rolled with the ease of an acrobat and yanked a shield out from the bottom of their bed and threw it to her husband like a frisbee. He caught it and continued fighting, looking extremely strange in a suit with a sword and a shield. 

Maya’s search for weapons hadn’t stopped there though, and while Jay was covering her with his supply of rocks (which, worryingly, was running out fast), she pulled out a trident from nowhere and joined Ray in battle. The three kids stood gobsmacked at the two parents and how easily they were fighting off three experienced attackers. They worked in instinctive unison with no verbal communication between, but incredible intuition.

And then Jay caught it.

The falter in Ray’s attack that allowed his opponent to sneak through his defences.

The sword slipped through the gap between the shield and the sword, aimed for the unprotected area of his abdomen.

Looking back, perhaps Jay should have jumped in front of the blade.

Because there was nothing more sickening than the squelch of when the blade had driven through Ray’s stomach. The sword drew a spray of blood, and then withdrew and Ray staggered back. Nya and Maya screamed in anguish and he fell to the floor, they rushed forwards as the wound began gushing blood. Kai just stared at the attackers, particularly at the one who had maimed his father. The ends of her white hair lay on her shoulders, unconcealed by the hood she wore. 

She seemed to be in command, because she jerked her head and the rest of them followed her out of the window, nimbly leaping to the next roof. 

Jay felt like he was intruding on something personal. Nya was whispering to Ray, tears streaking her cheeks as her hand was over his stab wound, coated in bright red blood that kept coming. Maya was next to her husband, shaking as she held his hand. Kai sat down, his jaw clenched.

“Why?  _ Why? _ ” he demanded furiously. “You could have—”

“We came back for you,” Ray murmured, barely audible. “Garmadon...is...coming.”

That was when Jay somehow sensed the new presence of someone behind him. Three people, all dressed in black and with masks and hood, stood behind him.

“Doesn’t look good, Obi.” One of them muttered.

“Look  _ good _ ?” Nya yelled, “He’s been  _ stabbed  _ you blundering idiot. Get the hell out of here before—before I—”

The newcomers looked at each other and adjusted their masks to ride higher up on their noses. Jay vaguely wondered why they weren’t coming back to finish off the job of killing them all. The one of them brought out what looked like a fire extinguisher, but was smaller and black. The nozzle began spraying a light, chamomile smelling gas over them.

Jay yawned sleepily, realising that he hadn’t slept in a long time.

“That’s it,” whispered the one who had commented on Ray’s current state of bleeding out. “Close your eyes.”

“Everything will be okay,” the third person finally said.

Even on his way to sleep, Jay could tell they were lying.

**zane**

The streets were filled with unorganised chaos. Several shops had broken front windows, ransacked insides and a sobbing owner out front. Zane wished he could help them, but he needed to find Evan and his father. Logically, they would be at home, ergo that was where he was headed. However, he had been delayed by the cars that had been stolen by rioters and driven down the streets recklessly, swerving to avoid a bomb crater that had just been activated.

Zane was afraid.

He kept reminding himself that really, he couldn’t  _ feel  _ afraid, because that was a human emotion and he was an android. Yet the more he puzzled over everything, and saw destruction that had wrecked the city, criminals, gang members, and even citizens who had grown tired and angry of life joining in on the catastrophe of the situation, he realised he was feeling fear.

Perhaps that was what scared him the most. 

Realising that even a person of metal could tell that this was all wrong.

Eventually, he made it home and began searching the house. He found his father in the basement, still working on a project with precise care. A few minutes later, Evan came stumbling into the workshop with his backpack and a harried expression. Zane hugged his brother tightly and used a newly discovered feature, switched to droid mode, to scan for any injuries. The result tested negative and he heaved a sigh of relief.

“Father, we must leave and travel to the Smith’s house immediately, the elemental masters and I have communicated and they are all meeting there, and we must be somewhere safe if they start looking for us.”

“What?” Dr Julien lifted an earmuff of his ear. “Do you know why the walls have been shaking, Zane?”

At his words, the walls shook again. The Sons of Garmadon must have deployed another bomb. 

“They’re bombing the city, father. Everything is in chaos, and elemental masters were directly called out—”

“But...my tools?” His father frowned. “Ignore that. It’s all right, I will take what is needed. Zane, you and Evan pack what you need. We’ll leave in five minutes.” Zane was proud of his father for taking charge in such a dangerous situation - he really was being the father he promised to try and be, even though it took him a nudge to get started. Evan was already in his room packing what he needed, and Zane moved to his. His school bag was barely holding together so he changed it out for a duffel bag and carefully packed some clothes, his phone and a book inside. 

In the kitchen, he grabbed non-perishables that were of small size and snack quality and added them to his bag, as well as three bottles of water. He was looking through the kitchen drawer when he found a pocket knife. His gaze lingered on it, unsure for a second, and then a barbaric yell in the distance prompted him to take it. 

He ran down to the basement to check on his father, who surprisingly had his two bags of belongings and tools packed and ready. Dr Julien gave Zane a sharp, determined nod and marched up the stairs with him to the front door. Evan was already waiting there, hopping from foot to foot impatiently.

The Juliens set off at a reasonable pace, and Zane used his internal GPS to keep them using back alleyways leading to the Smith’s house. They were at the house in fifteen minutes, though Zane was aware that something was wrong. The lights on the second floor had been turned on, but not on the bottom floor. The front door was also open and had not been shut. 

Zane left his father and Evan in the kitchen, noting the abandoned instant noodle and tea cups with suspicion. Although this confirmed his friends had been there,  _ where  _ they had gone worried him more. When he went up the staircase and stopped to scan the hallway, his systems picked up the presence of three life forms sleeping. It confused him why Nya and Kai would be sleeping in a dangerous time like this, and who else would be there but he pushed open the door and found out why.

The expressions on their faces indicated they were pleased to be asleep - perhaps an outside source had done this to them? The only relatively relaxed face belonged to Jay, of all people to be there, yet a frown was still on his face in slumber. Zane began shaking his friends awake, and they roused slowly, yawning and stretching as their brains sharpened out of a sleepy haze.

He frowned as he examined the room. The big window wall had two vaguely human shaped holes in them, shards of glass decorating the floor by the window. Over by the dresser, there was a large puddle of blood that was caked, half dried, and a trail of splatters leading to it. A deserted katana, shield and trident lay on the floor, all tipped slightly with blood.

“Wha—where are those bastards I need to—” Kai jumped to his feet and leaned out of the window, growling in frustration at something missing. “Wait. Where’s...?”

Nya blinked as if clearing her mind and looked around. “Those people must have taken them. We have to go after them right now! Oh, they messed with the wrong family.”

“What happened?” Zane said gently, leading Nya and Kai away from the cracked window. “Why is there blood on the floor?”

Kai and Nya both froze, staring at the splotches of blood painting the floor. Jay saw neither of them was in a right state to speak and turned to Zane, even he was reluctant to speak.

“Ray...was stabbed by a Sons of Garmadon member.”

“It was her again,” Kai spat. “White hair, two knives and a sword.”

Nya remained quiet, but bent to pick up the fallen metal trident from the floor. A real weapon, with sharp points and a glinting body. “They took them.”

Zane was shocked at the sibling’s unusual syncrasy fueled by anger, but it seemed reasonable. If his father, Evan, or Pixal was hurt he’d be just as angered. It seemed this person had come in contact with them before, and had endangered them previously. The silence was unnerving, the siblings tense and Jay weary. A ping from Zane’s phone interrupted them.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Zane read the messages aloud. “Cole says he’s on the way. Pixal is en route as well, however, Skylor still has not responded, and Lloyd said he has something to care of.” 

“We have to wait for them,” Jay said softly, looking to Nya. “We all have to be together, and then we can look for Wu. Wu can solve this.”

“He said...Garmadon is coming.” Kai muttered vaguely, beginning to pace around the room. “What exactly are the Sons of Garmadon planning? They’ve already started these crazy riots, they’ve so called ‘nullified’ our fucking powers, what are they gonna do, put someone on the throne?”

There was silence.

“Oh my god they’re going to put someone on the throne,” Kai shrieked to himself. Zane watched, slightly concerned for the mental state his friend was in. “They killed the Emperor and the Empress on live television, of course they’re going to want to replace them—”

“PUT HIM ON, PUT HIM ON, PUT HIM ON, PUT HIM ON—”

“What on  _ earth  _ is that racket?” complained his father, having appeared from behind Zane. “What are they saying?”

“Put him on,” Nya said. “Put who? On what?”

“PUT HIM ON, PUT HIM ON, PUT HIM ON, PUT HIM ON!” The shouting continued, growing louder and louder, accompanied by the steady thrum of footsteps. “WE DON’T WANT LIARS TO LEAD US.”

“Garmadon,” Zane breathed, having connected all the pieces of the puzzle. “Wu said it himself, Garmadon wants power. He’s taken everyone out, incited rebellion and outrage, he’s planned this chaos perfectly.”

He looked to his friends in despair at the foreboding realisation.

“Garmadon will be the new Emperor.”

**lloyd**

What the hell was he even doing here?

He kept watching the drain cover in the alleyway like he was expecting an elevator to pop out of it. But nothing did. Lloyd looked at the only message his father had sent him.

**unknown number:** _ behind murray’s. macarena three times on the cover _

Admittedly, Lloyd did feel he’d looked a little stupid stomping on a manhole like a little kid throwing a whiny tantrum, but there was less of the crying and more dancing. He wouldn’t have been here for any other reason, except he’d been messaged by his mother to follow his instructions.

Here he was, trying to contact his father.

By doing the macarena.

Reluctantly, he walked over to the manhole cover and stood on it, making sure his back was facing the open end of the alleyway so no one would recognise him. No one was going to though, people were too busy torching their city and destroying it. Lloyd sighed, closed his eyes and imagined the tune playing in his head, doing the movements so fast it almost looked as if he was possessed by a ghost.

After performing the dance three times, Lloyd stood on the cover expectantly and stared at his feet. One second the metal cover was there, the next he was plummeting down into the sewers. His shout of surprise was tangled in his throat, and the strangled sound that came out was echoed by a  _ sploosh  _ as he landed ankle deep in murky water.

There was a dark figure standing opposite him, silent and unmoving. They set off without a word and Lloyd trudged through the water to the raised walkways on either side to make pace with the agent scout. It felt like forever in which Lloyd was walking in silence with a mysterious scout who had two swords crossed over their back in a dangerous X shape.

If he tried to run, he had a feeling that he wouldn’t make it out of these tunnels alive.

He was intrigued, however, to find that they stopped along at three other posted scouts, and his ‘babysitter’ exchanged low talk - probably code phrases or something with them. After the third guard, there was a set of thick iron doors that hissed as they slid aside.

“Okay, how the fuck is it fair that I was blindfolded when I was brought in, but this guy waltzes the Swan Lake like he’s got nothing better to do?” Someone was shouting loudly and his guard shook his head.

“Lord never shoulda started recruiting young. First comes Reaper, and before you know it I’ve got ten kids to babysit.”

Lloyd kept quiet, wisely, he realised, as the ruckus from the girl was getting louder and all attention was drawn to her. They were standing in a gigantic hall, designed like the inside of a massive warehouse, but ten times more efficient. To his left was a massive training course, taking up half of the area. The areas were sectioned with different types of flooring. 

The path Lloyd was on was of a smooth black material, leading to a door directly opposite him. The right side was sliced into half, another black path running through the middle to divide it. The floor inside the sections were like gym mats, less stinky, but the people training there weren’t using it for highschool gym. They were sparring ruthlessly, fighting dummies or going through training.

Lloyd knew the Sons of Garmadon were organised, but this level of perfectly structured ranks and training was beyond what he’d ever thought capable of a street gang. The girl, he saw now, was actually sparring and yelling at the same time. Her voice vaguely rang a bell, but Lloyd couldn’t pinpoint where he knew her from.

“You couldn’t tell me they still had a hit on me? It’s not that  _ hard  _ Troya!” The girl stepped up her series of attacks, but it was obvious who had more experience on their side. 

“Well, I didn’t tell you that they  _ didn’t  _ not have a target for you. Really, you should have guessed it yourself. Did Thorn not teach you to always be aware of your enemies?”

“Thorn didn’t  _ teach me  _ that some asshole from school knew who I  _ actually  _ was, and would try to kill me and my friends! You think I wanted to come back here? I don’t even know if I can trust you anymore!”

“Actually? Who is she? What school does she go to?” Lloyd felt he was obliged to a few questions to answer his curiosity. Additionally, he had to find out where his father was to see what his mother had sent him to parely over.

His babysitter looked at him and then shrugged. “You know, it’s ironic. We finally have an actual son of Garmadon here.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Lloyd whined, exasperated.

“Didn’t have to. Hey, Troya! Can Reaper take Garmadon up to see the Lord?” 

_ Finally!  _ Lloyd cheered internally.  _ We’re getting somewhere _ .

“He’s not in,” ‘Troya’ replied, stripping off her boxing gear and leaving the sparring area. “Rea and her little gang of misfits can keep him company in her quarters until we decided what we’re going to do with them.”

“We’re right here!” Lloyd and ‘Rea’ indignantly choroused in unison. They both scowled at each other, the younger girl packing away wraps and gloves into a locker. Her face seemed familiar, and Lloyd was trying to remember where he’d seen her before. Her face had very distinct sharp features, dark eyes and a scowl still on her face.

“Wait a minute, I know you — you’re Astra Harlow. You disappeared from Jay’s english class for like, three weeks!”

“Finally caught on, have you?” She said dryly, looking to Troya. “Do I really have to babysit him?”

“No one has to babysit me!” He insisted loudly. “She’s basically my age! How is that fair?”

“She has training,” His previous guard said. “I mean, not a lot of it, but she’s been trained.”

“Gee thanks, Ty.” Astra narrowed her eyes, and then switched her gaze to Lloyd. He was feeling very attacked right now. “What Typhoon said is true. I have more training than you have right now, and trust me, I don’t want to babysit the Lord’s kid.”

Then she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out, all the while muttering under her breath like she was about to hex him with some magical power. Lloyd considered pulling back, but every few metres a new SOG member would walk by and call some greeting to Astra, shooting confused looks at Lloyd which he reciprocated. 

“Who the hell did they bring in? Bleeding all over the place, it’s like they’re  _ trying  _ to kill me.” She shuddered, scowling heavily.

Suddenly, she stopped and whirled around.

“Riptide?”

Lloyd slowly turned in a circle. No one was there.

“Fuck.” She swore and then rubbed at her temples. “Keep moving, Garmadon Junior.”

Lloyd would have opted not to - after all, he could probably use some of the weedy strength to overthrow her and run. However, she had two daggers sheathed at her side, a katana on the other, a bow slung across her back and a quiver of feathered metal arrows. 

Why was everyone carrying weapons that could skewer him at any moment?

He did notice that sometimes she’d stopped and looked around, but that lessened as she slowed her pace outside an unmarked door. She pressed her fingers to the door and the handle unlocked itself, opening slowly. Lloyd slipped in and she followed behind. The room was filled with bunk beds and curtains to be sectioned off for privacy, along with closest separating the beds.

Three of those lower bunks were taken up by three people who also stirred memories in the back of his mind.

Astra dropped her bow and quiver to a bed that looked messier and more personalised than others, nodding to each of the randoms in the room.

“Kade,” The blonde kid waved at him. He looked like a twelve year old on steroids, who was still awkwardly growing. 

“Annabella,” A petite girl with a notebook she was sketching in, nodded at Lloyd in greeting.

“And Zander.” The last guy waved, though it was more cautious than Kade.

“Who’s that?” Lloyd noticed a lump on a fourth bunk, clearly unconscious. Whether it was voluntary or not was another question.

Astra scowled. “Jake.”

“The guy from the football team?” Lloyd cocked his head at the lump. 

Annabella nodded. “He tried to kill us, so I knocked him out and trussed him up like a turkey. If only I could actually cook him alive.  _ Bitch _ .”

“More, specifically, Astra,” Kade said. “She hasn’t told us a lot of stuff, like how a Serpentine gang member is after her, so we didn’t expect getting  _ shot  _ at in the middle of the Woodlands.”

Astra shot Kade an accusatory glare. “Don’t start on that. You didn’t tell me that you were the elemental master of healing, or that you were on the football team, or—”

“Well you didn’t tell me you were running around with the Sons of Garmadon  _ or  _ that you were an elemental master too! How was I supposed to know you were one so I could tell you?”

“Then it applies to me as well! How would  _ I  _ know if‚—”

“Wait, you guys are elemental masters too?” Lloyd spluttered.  _ Can they actually use their powers?  _ He couldn’t help the bitter, jealous thoughts spinning through his mind when he’d never even seen a sign of Energy.

“Yeah,” Astra raised an eyebrow. “Except Kade’s the only one that can actually  _ do  _ something with his power. What’s your element?”

“Energy.” Lloyd mumbled, barely audible. He kicked at the ground and tried to assume an aloft, mysterious persona of his element. “Yours?”

“Death,” Astra muttered with equal reluctance. “I know it sounds kooky, but I don’t even know how to use it.”

“Join the club,” He laughed hoarsely, feeling his spine relax now he was in a more comfortable situation. “Do you know where my father is?”

Astra shook her head. “I’ve been on the run all day, but he hasn’t logged in at all since last night. Why?”

“My mother sent me to—”  _ Ping! _ Lloyd frowned in confusion and took out his phone, gasping in surprise at the activity on a new groupchat.

**music man:** _ lloyd where the hell are you??? _

_ LLOYD????? _

**kai the fry:** _ LLOYD ANSWER US RIGHT FUCKING NOW _

**Me:** _ what’s happening? _

**punchy girl:** _ lloyd where are you? we need to regroup and get out of the city to wu after we find my parents _

**Me:** _ wait what happened to your parents?? arent they supposed to be out of town? _

**noodle lady:** _ is lloyd not with you guys?? _

**pixxxal:** _ sky that is very hypocritical since you aren’t with us right now either! _

**Me:** _ wait are all of you at home? _

**punchy girl:** _ yeah, everyone but you and skylor! pixal and cole got here ten minutes ago. now where the hell are you??? _

Lloyd grimaced as he typed.

**Me:** _ i may or may not be with the sons of garmadon? _

**mrbulletcar:** _ that is so incredibly stupid...but also fritz donnegan worthy. respect man _

**kai the fry:** _ LLOYD THATS LITERAGLY THE WORST PLACE OT BE RIGHT NOW _

_ DO YOU KNO WWHERE GARMADGON IS RN?? _

**Me:** _ noooooo apparently hes ‘out’. why? _

**kai the fry:** _ BECAUSE HES TRYING TO TAKE OVER NIJAGO CITH BY BEIANG EMPEROR AND PROASBALY THE MAYOAR TOO _

**Me:** _ well thats not good _

**kai the fry:** _ OF COURSE ITS NOT GOOD YOU NEED OT FINS HIM RN BEFORG HEA CAN DOB ANYTGTHING SINCE HE GOB RIW OF EVERONY _

**Me:** _ ok _

Lloyd looked up and winced. Probably not a good idea to tell his friends’ theory to a literal agent of the SOG, but he needed someone on the inside who could get him to his father. Make him stand down or something. 

“So, apparently Garmadon is trying to take over the city?” His voice quirked up at the end, followed by a nervous chuckle and Lloyd wringing his hands. “And I really need to talk to my dad...for some reason. Also, it would be kind of bad if he took over Ninjago, so, do you mind helping?”

Astra crossed her arms and snorted. “That’s believable.”

“Is she being sarcastic?” Lloyd whispered to Zander. He shook his head, tilting it and shrugging like it was the norm. “So you’ll help me?”

Astra paused, and then nodded, beginning to strap on her weapons again. “I have some beef to settle with Big G, anyway. He killed Riptide.”

“Who’s Riptide?” Annabella said, voicing the question Lloyd really wanted to know the answer to.

“He was my friend. Not like, ew, hell no, Za, stop looking at me like that. He was like a brother to me, but he was killed by someone — and right now, I’m sussing that Garmadon had someone do it, in the school gym.”

“He was the history teacher?” Lloyd didn’t know what else to say. “I’m sorry. I know that does absolutely nothing, but—”

“Let’s just go find Garmadon.” Astra was already at the door, looking back to her other friends. “Do you...wanna come?”

Lloyd looked down to his phone, seeing his friends babbling madly to him. “It doesn’t matter. We have to go,  _ now _ .”

Kade, Zander and Annabella jumped to their feet, looking nervously confident in their friend. Astra led the way out from the dormitory, pausing before every corner to scout ahead. Lloyd followed closing behind, all the while trying to figure what he was going to say to his dad. Perhaps something along the lines of,  _ father, maybe you, a crime lord with plans that certainly can’t be good, after murdering about five incredibly important rulers and people and trying to kill my friend’s dad, shouldn’t try to take over the city? Please? S’il vous plait? _

Too focused on his big speech, Lloyd hadn’t realised Astra stopped to look at her watch and bumped into her. She turned to swear extensively at him, finishing off with, “Garmadon just logged back in, but he’s set something to leave for in five minutes. And he’s taken out a bike.” 

“Where do you think he’ll be?” Kade whispered, extremely agitated as he looked over his shoulder again.

“Okay, okay!” Astra suddenly snapped, jabbing a finger at the air in front of her. “He’s in the media room.”

“How do you—”

“I think I’m talking to the ghost of Riptide, it’s either that, or my imagination is running wild. Pick it up.” She was already running down another corridor and Lloyd picked up the pace as suggested. 

When he levelled with Astra, she looked at her watch again, and then to the space around her. “I really shouldn’t be telling you this, but our media rooms have access to all television networks, billboards and TV’s in Ninjago. The only reason I think he’s in there is if—”

“He’s planning to announce it publicly,” Lloyd finished as Astra held back a hand to halt them. 

“We’re here.” She announced in a stage whisper. “Hold tight, I’m going to get back up.”

She took off and Lloyd stood awkwardly with her friends. He didn’t really talk to anyone outside his friend group but Harumi, really.  _ Harumi!  _ Lloyd startled himself, and took out his phone to send her a million messages. The delivered icon underneath went through, but she hadn’t read any of them yet.

When it was truly getting awkward, Astra came jogging back, this time with another person. A lanky boy who was about Lloyd’s height, but carried a metal duck in his arms. 

“This is Titanium, Master of Metal. Kade, Master of Healing. Lloyd, Master of Energy, and Annabella and Zander.”

Lloyd nodded to him, gaining some understanding as to why he was carrying a metal duck in his arms.  _ There’s so many more elemental masters than I thought.  _

“Garmadon’s been using us for his dirty work, and he’s trying to take over the city. We think he’s going to use our systems to hack into the video network of Ninjago to announce it.” She jerked her head over to the door on the right. “That’s the viewing room, next to where the studio is. I say we go in, wait until he’s filming and then ambush him.”

“With what, exactly?” Zander raised a brow and waved a hand to Titanium. “This guy’s duck?”

Astra nodded. “Exactly that.”

She had a habit of not waiting for other people, Lloyd noticed. It wasn’t a pro at all, as she slipped into the room with the gait of a wraith in the shadows. He and the rest stumbled in clumsily, Titanium nearly dropping his duck. What exactly Astra’s plan for that was, remained unexplained. 

The viewing room was literally one long couch and a gigantic TV. The screen was black, for now, but everyone was anticipating Garmadon to come on the screen right now. It went unsaid that you kept quiet - after all, it was obvious his father was in the room to the left and if their cover was blown, the announcement would go on.

Astra was fiddling with her weapons, carefully placing her bow and her quiver on the floor, leaving her with her swords and some knives. Lloyd really wished he had some sort of defense in case his father blew up, but he’d have to rely on Astra and Titanium to cover his back while he talked/ambushed his father. Astra was nodding to herself, tightening the ends of her braids. 

Lloyd watched as she looked to Titanium, nodding before motioning for everyone to stand up. Her right hand was already on the hilt of her sword, her left hand forming a three with her fingers. She counted down, putting each finger down until she reached one and her hand crept to the doorknob.

In a flash, she had opened the door and tumbled forwards in a roll, her katana raised.

The thing was, there was no one to fight against.

“Where the fuck is Garmadon?” Astra snapped, circling the room to check for any hiding places. 

It was clear his father wasn’t there - he was a tall, broad shouldered man who wouldn’t have fit in any of the nooks or crannies. The cameras and spotlights were all set up to face a chair backed with a green screen fabric. 

“Guys…” Kade called them over from the other room, his jaw hung open slightly as he stared at the screen.

An old-fashioned timer was counting down from ten, the screen flecked with white speckles and flickering slightly. Lloyd glanced at his phone to see if Harumi had replied - but instead, the exact same counter was there. Zander, Kade and Annabella all checked their phones with the same result.

The counter ticked to three.

“But...if Garmadon isn’t here, where is he?” Annabella, once again, uncannily voiced their questions.

The screen, for a split second, went black, before revealing a wall of white. Lloyd held his breath as he waited, expecting his father to stride on screen with someone’s bloody body slung onto his back.

Instead, Morro walked into view.

His father had roped  _ Morro  _ into this too?

Morro still had not spoken, and stood to the left of the single black chair the camera was focused on.

“Ninjago,” He began slowly, the lock of green hair falling forwards. “We have plundered you to make you clean again. Ridding the streets and fancy mansions of the people who have lied to you, to help you. We have heard your chants, your protests and your call for a new, honest, ruler. One that has true claim to the throne. To cleanse this city for the new emperor, the new supreme ruler of Ninjago.”

_ NO!  _ Lloyd wanted to shout out against his cousin. _ How can you let a murdering snake like my father gain power? _

“Citizens, please meet your new ruler, Emperor Garmadon.”

In walked a cloaked figure, posture a little more stooped and height shorter than Lloyd remembered his dad. Perhaps it was just the camera angle. His heart hammering in his chest, Lloyd watched as the figure sat down, and pulled back their hood, and he, along with everyone else in the room gasped.

The ‘Emperor Garmadon’ his cousin had been talking about wasn’t Lloyd’s father.

It was  _ Wu  _ Garmadon.

  
  


**A/N:**

**-dommie out**


	42. [40] mid term finals : exam one

**skylor**

A face she’d known as wise, kind, trustworthy.

A face that had guided her through struggling with her power.

A face she’d  _ trusted  _ above all things.

A face that was a twisted liar.

_ No. _

“Some of you know him better as Principal Wu, a man of wise words and advice.” Morro’s lips thinned into the barest of smiles. “You may have recalled that we mentioned elemental masters. Legends, among us, of saviours strong and powerful. But you see, only some of the elements are truly good.” Morro nodded to Wu, and stepped out of frame.

Wu ran his fingers through his beard thoughtfully. “When I was a boy, I was taught that there are two sides to power. Dark, and light, good and bad, yin and yang. The same applies to the elements that once protected us. But long ago, my father, the First Spinjitzu Master saw that some elemental powers were being abused. That they were being taken advantage of, used for conquering cities. I do admit, I have my own power. But it is of light, and joy, creativity and inspiration. These rogue elements, I hate to say, have resurfaced. Some of the wielders I have helped achieve balance within, but there are still elemental masters out there.”

_ Us. He’s talking about us. _

“These masters are bent on destruction and using their great gifts for something dark. Power manifests itself in strange people, so be warned, my subjects, of the naivety they may possess.” Wu looked to the camera and produced a single sheet of paper, clearing his throat.

“Kai Smith, Master of Fire. Nya Smith, Master of Water. Lloyd  _ Garmadon _ , Master of Energy. Zane Julien, Master of Ice. Cole Brookstone, Master of Earth. Jay Walker, Master of Lightning, and Skylor Chen, Master of Amber.”

His eyes conveyed nothing but total seriousness and care, dark but with desire. To others, citizens who wouldn’t know better, they’d believe him. He spoke with such conviction, and with a wise, knowing edge, but not one that made him seem above everything. 

“We must find them. I am reluctant to use the power of my role so quickly,”  _ Oh I bet you are, _ “But we must find them. At six-thirty tonight, the Hunt will begin. Police forces will be sweeping the city, alongside my own troops. You must be thinking, this old man is positively crazy to have claim to the throne!”

Her eyes narrowed in hatred. Wu,  _ Wu  _ of all people!

“I can assure you, that as the son of the First Spinjitzu master, creator of this world, that I have the right to lead my wonderful people. But to lead you, and protect you, we must rid the city of these rebellious elementals. I have forged an alliance with the Serpentine Gang to help us hunt down our enemies. It must be known that my brother, the leader of the Sons of Garmadon  _ will  _ try to stop us.”

“For your safety, I would suggest staying inside during the Hunt, but if you would like to assist us in the final stages of purging this city, you are very much welcome. I can see no finer city to help prosper, Ninjago. I hope that we, together, as the people who speak for the greater good, are ready to begin a new era in which Ninjago is reborn.”

The screen went black.

The cheering began slowly, and a low hum in the distance, before it rose in volume and ferocity, cheers turning to chants of support, stamping and bellowing following it. Skylor double checked the locks on the windows of her tiny home and retreated to her bedroom. She needed to find her friends - they’d been  _ publicly  _ called out, for goodness sake!

Her father would be safe here with all the guards and security, and if anything he’d retreat to the bunker they’d used to play hide and seek in years ago. Now it had actual use, if Clouse had been stocking the supplies it. Skylor knew she could rely on Clouse to keep everything in order at home.

Whatever this Hunt was, it would endanger what was left of her family and she couldn’t have that happening to them. She packed lightly and scribbled a note for her father, hesitating at the doorstep before slipping out and making her way to the entrance. She knew every exit and entrance, secret and public, so Skylor went through the little copse of trees behind her house and popped out on the other side of the road.

Looking at her phone, Skylor waited for some clue of where her friends were, but their last dribble of conversation came from before Wu’s speech. It was five thirty, so she had an hour to figure out where to hide. The last place she knew where they were was Kai’s house. Skylor hitched the bag higher up on her shoulder and drew her jacket closer towards, her hand tightly gripping a pepper spray. She readjusted the hood so it concealed her more and set off in purposeful stride.

It took longer than expected to weave through the city inconspicuously. People were already setting out to look for them, the police setting up barricades and stations. 

_ Are we really so corrupted by our power? _

She shook off the thought and let herself smile at the tiny victory - she’d reached the Smith’s place. Skylor opted to go jump over the fence by climbing a tree in the garden next door, lowering herself down and then tumbling into the backyard. Half winded, she slowly rose to her feet and was suddenly met with a spatula at her throat.

Her eyes flicked upwards and her posture relaxed. It was just Cole, with a highly inefficient weapon.

“Good, you made it here. We have to...we have to uh,”

“Let’s go inside,” she suggested gently, sensing that Cole wasn’t doing too well right now. 

When Skylor walked inside, she was met with seven solemn faces. Kai and Nya were barely holding together - their eyes were rimmed with tears and Skylor didn’t know why, but it hurt to see her friends like this. Jay was the only one attempting mindless chatter, whilst Pixal, Zane and Cole opted to keep completely quiet. For some reason, Dr Julien and Evan were there too.

“What are we going to do?” She dared to ask, cringing at their blank expressions.

“Wu was supposed to be our plan. Wu was supposed to help us. We have no plan.” Jay murmured desolately, abandoning his hopeful talk. “We have to hide.”

“Where?” Kai scoffed. “The Sons of Garmadon have Lloyd with them, and we don’t even know if we can trust them either.”

“Our parents are still gone.” Nya whispered, leaning into Jay’s side as she let out a choked sob. 

“What happened?” Skylor was pretty sure the Smiths were supposed to be out of town for now.

“The Sons of Garmadon attacked us, and took our parents. We don’t even know if dad is alive.” Kai’s green eyes, usually full of fire and ferocity were dull and empty.

Her mouth fell into an ‘O’ of surprise, and she wanted to hug her friends, but at the thought of touching someone right now made her want to throw up. “I...don’t know what to say.”

Nya smiled weakly at her. “There’s nothing to say. Jay’s right, we have to hide. And if possible, contact someone who can help us. Maybe...the Sons of Garmadon are on our side?”

Cole shook his head. “ _ Wu  _ said they’d just oppose him on the throne. Not that they’re with us.”

“So, we’re fucked.” Kai laughed to himself, wiping away his tears. “Of all people...fucking Wu.”

“That still brings us back to hiding from whatever this Hunt is. We don’t have a lot of time.” Jay looked at them, curly locks of auburn hair hiding the misery shading his eyes. “I say we split up. That way there’s less chance of catching us all.”

“I’ll go with Nya,” Jay volunteered, giving the girl a subtle smile. She nodded, but it didn’t look like she was listening.

“I will accompany Zane,” said Pixal, crossing the room to her boyfriend. “We will help Dr Julien and Evan hide someplace safer, away from...us.”

“Pixal, you do not have to come with us. You are not being targeted.” Zane brushed his thumb over her cheek tenderly. “You could save yourself.”

“Or I could help save you,” She countered, her jaw set. “Don’t try to push me away to save me, Zane.”

“So...I’ll go find Lloyd?” Cole offered. Everyone agreed, and Skylor sighed as she realised she was paired with Kai. He seemed to realise it, but only acknowledged their situation with a simple nod.

“Who’s going to take Ryu?” Nya said, picking up the bundling of naive energy at their feet.

“I will.” Kai volunteered. He shot Skylor a look as if to ask  _ is this okay?  _ She nodded back, not really sure why he valued her opinion now. Before, when they’d just made small talk it was easy to ignore him but hide laughs as the outsiders of the group. Now everything was different. Horribly.

“None of you are allowed to die,” Nya ordered sternly. “Keep running, find whatever weapons you can use, don’t try to contact each other incase they’re tracking us...just be safe. Take some Amnestone tea to see if it can boost your powers. I can’t lose anyone else.”

“You won’t,” Jay confidently said, getting to his feet. “We are all making it out of here alive. We just have to survive tonight and see what happens.”

“Good luck, everyone.” Zane said, and Skylor hoped they would have that luck.

If they didn’t receive it, they’d see what it was like to be the prey for a predator.

A predator they’d trusted.

**nya**

They decided to head for the Woodlands, risking a longer journey, but some range of cover under the trees. It was Jay’s idea, and Nya was too tired to rebut it or think of a better one. Her body moved on instinct and on autopilot, with her only aim to make it to the trees and hope that the city would be distracted to forget them. Her mind was still replaying that horrible,  _ horrible  _ moment.

The squelch and the spray of blood - blood that now had dried on her hands, but she couldn’t be bothered to wash it off. They didn’t have the time, and she needed that reminder. To find that assassin, and to...do something that would hurt them just as much in return. 

“Nearly there,” Jay whispered, tipping his head to the outskirts of the Woodlands. 

They were both crouched behind a storeroom of a Master’s Mini Market, clutching their bags as they listened to the partying in the streets. It was about six-ten now, giving them twenty minutes to find a deeper place in the woods to hide. Nya nodded to him, and they ran quickly to the forest, crashing through the bushes as fast as they could go. 

If anyone was there, they’d think it was a bear or something. They needed speed first, over stealth which would come in later. They ended up stopping in a small natural clearing with a thin stream winding through it. Jay dropped his bag and ran his fingers through his hair, which looked very fluffy and very tempting to run her hands through. But Nya didn’t want to get blood in his hair and this certainly wasn’t the time to be thinking about romance. 

“Where do we go now?” Jay asked as she eyed the trees.

“Up.” 

“Up?” Jay echoed in confusion. Nya put her bag on and gestured for him to do the same.

“Up, and through the trees. We’ll see them coming from below, and we can always hide in a hollowed out trunk or something.”

“Up it is.” Jay grinned, his dimples deepened by the dirt smudging his face. He was putting a lot of trust into her. He was scanning the trees, his face screwed up like it did when he focused - especially when he was inventing something. 

“What?” He turned around, and Nya realised she’d been staring at him.

“Oh, nothing.” Then she stepped forwards boldly and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “For luck.”

She chose the first tree she walked into and scurried up it, hoping he couldn’t see the bright pink burning her cheeks.

Down below, Jay hoped the same, though Nya didn’t know it.

**astra**

“Shit, shit, shit.”

“Another time for good measure?” Zander suggested dryly. Astra turned to glare at him, realised she couldn’t waste the energy and continued scowling at the assembled leaders of the SOG in the room behind them.

Because they were  _ kids _ , they’d been ordered outside, even  _ she _ wasn’t allowed inside to know about their plans. Astra was sure that if Wu hadn’t called out the Sons of Garmadon publicly, they wouldn’t be inside the war room planning. Yet he’d been daring and bold on his first day of rule, rather taking the throne, declaring this so called ‘Hunt’ for elemental masters.

People followed him easily because they believed he’d freed them from a string of lying, power-holding commanders. She scoffed at herself, disgusted at the moment in which it had been revealed that it was Wu, and not Junior’s father, that was the new Emperor. Fingering her bow, she glanced to the shooting range close by and stood up, jerking her ahead over to it at her friends.

“Want to come?”

They looked to each other and shrugged, Lloyd was a little more hesitant, but when Titanium stood up and left him sitting on the bench like a boy sent to the principal’s office he scurried along. Titanium’s long legs easily kept up with Astra’s pace as she noticed the band of metal around his wrist. He saw her staring at it as she nocked her bow and casually sighted.

“It’s one of my shields. I use it in battle.” He opened his mouth at her surprised expression. “What? Just because I’m an inventor doesn’t mean I can’t fight.”

She lowered her shooting arm and watched with great interest as he simply held his left arm out and one second there was a band of metal, and the next it had expanded to a rectangular shaped shield with the SOG logo stamped into it.

He laughed heartily at Annabella and Zander’s gobsmacked expressions. “Master of Metal, remember?” Then he turned to Astra. “What weapons do you use?”

“A katana, and a cross between a bow and a crossbow.” At his mildly confused expression, Astra shot off an arrow with the normal bow form, and switched it to crossbow mode and loaded a bolt in a matter of seconds, shooting it with little care for aim. It thudded in one of the outer rings, a poor, lousy shot with no aim since it was for show.

“So you have no one defending you after you shoot?”

She shook her head.

“I can help,” He offered, lifting up his shield with a grin. Titanium patted his belt, from which a large hammer hung from. “I’m not bad at bashing heads.”

“Titanium and Reaper,” she mocked a wondering expression with good humour. “Good thinking.”

Someone coughed loudly from behind them, and she turned to find Kade standing there awkwardly.

“When Wu called the Hunt...does that mean  _ all  _ elemental masters, or just the ones he revealed?”

Right, she should be worried about that as well. 

“All of them, I’m guessing.” As she said it, Titanium looked a little jumpy. “If these people can get their hands on any of us, they’ll be rewarded handsomely. So yes, I suppose we’ll be in danger as well.”

Shortly after Wu had finished his speech, details on the Hunt had flashed out, including prize money for catching elemental masters like they were prized hogs, all from the royal coffer. Thinking about it again, Astra knew it made more sense that Wu was the shadow behind this all. She never really liked that guy. Lloyd had been interrogated heavily on his uncle, delving into his two week trip to the monastery and such to the leaders and planners to see if his tale would give them an upperhand.

It didn’t, as far as she knew.

“We need to get Rema out then,” Kade said loudly, bringing her back to reality.

“Why?”

“She’s an elemental master. My mother and her father are siblings. He was the one that gave her her element, and I got healing from my mother.” 

Astra’s eyebrows rose at that. She knew Kade and Rema were cousins, but didn’t know their elemental power linked them too. “I’ll speak to Troya about it.”

Just as she said it, the door from the war room was flung open, letting out shouting and arguing from inside. Her sister stormed out, aiming for their little group.

“So what’s the plan? Astra asked, watching the turbulent emotions behind her calm mask of a face in her eyes.

“We don’t  _ have  _ one.” Cassie spat, getting out her throwing knives. She sharpened them against each other violently and looked to a target. “They’re all distracted by this bleeding guy Obi brought in and his ‘significance’ since he’s wailing about his wife and kids. Valley and I tried, but they’re all too riled up right now. So our plan is ‘charge in and see what happens’.”

Valley was Maya’s codename, and Astra frowned at Cassie’s angered statement as her sister sent two knives spinning through the air violently. The points dug themselves in the red dot in the centre and her friends took an apprehensive step back. 

“What do we do now then?” Zander squeaked, his voice wavering as Cas whirled towards him, her white hair whipping out as she spun.

“Wait for the Hunt to begin, I suppose. And then we’ll see the slaughter begin.”

**cole**

Where would the Sons of Garmadon be based?

Of course, Cole wouldn’t know this since he had no clue where a crime gang would be holding his friend prisoner. Time was against him, however, and Cole had to keep moving, keep looking and keep aware of anyone around him. As long as he avoided his dad’s performing friends, kids from school, and literally anyone he’d ever met, he’d be safe.

He walked into an alleyway and peered around, disappointed to find no sign of the blonde misfit of their friend group. Maybe they weren’t even based in Ninjago City, and were dealing in crime from the Sea of Sand or something. Either way, Cole was looking for a needle in a haystack full of Hunters. Whatever this Hunt was, it was dangerous. They’d called out  _ all  _ of the elemental masters Cole knew, and he was almost certain they’d go find his father to see where he was.

That’s why his first quick stop had been a rambling explanation at his house, getting his dad out of the city, into his car and somewhere far, far away where he would be safe. Cole was not losing anyone else because of his simple existence. Now his quest to find Lloyd with absolutely no clues was going downhill. He hadn’t answered the spam of messages Cole had sent him, only leaving him on read. This was definitely not the time since the Hunt was starting in a couple of minutes, and Cole was lost in a maze of skyscraper business buildings and a Masters supermarket.

The streets were already dotted with gang members, Hunters, police, and the army. Defeated, he sat down on the manhole cover and tried to think of a better solution to finding his friend when the cover beneath him gave way and Cole was suddenly falling. Before he could yell out, someone behind him clocked him over the head with a bat or a heavy object that  _ really hurt  _ and a bag was thrown over his head as he slipped out of consciousness.

He woke up in a dormitory full of bunk beds, being stared down by six people. Four were vaguely familiar, one he didn’t know at all, and the last was  _ Lloyd!  _ It was just his luck that he’d sat down on one of their secret entrances or something and they’d found him!

“Lloyd!” He grinned, stepping towards his friend and encasing him in a crushing bear hug.

“We’re so crapped.” Said the unknown guy, fiddling with a band of metal around his wrist. “I can’t believe I agreed to kidnapping a guy.”

“Oh, just say fucked. You guys probably do it all the time but you’re holed up in the walls making ducks, Ty-man.” Drawled a more familiar face. A blonde kid who wasn’t Lloyd elbowed her in the stomach and she glared at him. 

“Wait a minute, you’re Kade! You just joined the football team, right?”

Kade nodded in confirmation.

“Hang on, why’d you kidnap me?” Cole was now very aware of the weapons littering the room and stumbled back into a bed. There was also a trussed up lump that looked like a body lying in a bunk. Was he about to be mugged, but on a severe level?

“Actually—”

“Shut up, Junior.” snapped the first girl again. “It’s for your safety, and that’s my point. Troya and Val will side with me anyway, and so will Titanium here.  _ Won’t you _ ?”

“Yes, yes.” Titanium agreed reluctantly.  _ Must be a codename. Wonder what hers is. And why is Kade with them? _

“You are from the Sons of Garmadon, right?”

“Yes, but that’s not the point. I’m doing you a favour, Cole Brookstone. We know you’re looking for Junior here and you’re an elemental master. It keeps you safe from the Hunt, and if needed, I’ll sell both of you out if you even think about going behind my back.”

“Well, I mean, you and Kade are both elemental masters, Astra. I could just tell them.” Lloyd said matter of factly, drawing himself up to his full height, which compared to Cole, really wasn’t that tall since he stood at a towering 6’3, nearly ‘4.

“You wouldn’t.” She countered, resting her hand on the hilt of her sword. Kade placed his hand over hers placatingly and Astra (yes, now Cole remembered her from school) shot him a scathing glare. But she didn’t shake off his hand from where it rested on hers and Cole added them to his list of matchmaking for the future.

Lloyd scowled at her, a scarily similar expression to the one she had on right then. Cole cleared his throat loudly and looked to Astra suspiciously.

“So, if you’re from the Sons of Garmadon, why aren’t you up there with them?”

“They’re already assembling their  _ plan _ ? I can’t fucking believe this—”

“What are we going to do?” Annabella Han, yes, that was her, interjected calmly, a voice of reason and...an avocado?

Astra paused in her angry rant and then looked to them with a grin that only spelled trouble.

“We go out there and fight. Find the other elemental masters and make a show of it.”

**kai**

The Hunt started at six thirty.

Kai and Skylor were hiding in a random Borg Store’s back room, watching the red numbers on the digital clock tick down with their hearts pounding. They’d barely talked enough to form a coherent plan. Right now, it consisted of ‘run, and keep running’. Skylor refused to so much as stay near him and was huddled behind a different stack of BorgPhone boxes.

Her hair was loosely tied in a ponytail, fanning over the back of her black Master Chen’s merch. Her face gave away nothing , eyes fixated on the clock and her fingers fiddling with the holes in her shirt. The store had been the first place they’d looked into, hoping that the Hunters would overlook it. What Kai once treasured and admired as great power, an element of  _ creation _ , he now was afraid of. Chanting words and phrases inspired by the Archive of Fire in his head kept him calm. Sort of.

_ The fire will take you if you do not take the fire. _

_ Control. _

_ Fire is tameable, and you must be the tamer. _

_ Fire is a hungry monster, but the hunger has to be wielded by you, rather than against you. _

Despite all the positive and slightly ominous quotes Calla and other Masters of Fire had given him, Kai they were not going to survive this night unsctahed. Hunted down like animals. Ryu sensed the need for quiet and wriggled around in Kai’s lap a bit. He only had his collar on, no leash since that would get in the way. Kai tried to be quick as he rummaged around his backpack for some dog treats and fed the wee guy a crunchy treat. His fingers brushed past a fresh batch of Amnestone tea and some other supplies.

_ Wu  _ had betrayed them.

He watched in silence as six twenty nine ticked over, and a loud horn blared through the city.

“We’re safe here.” Skylor finally said in a whisper, not taking her eyes off the clock. “We’re safe here. We’re safe here. We’re  _ safe  _ here—”

Kai would have done this for any of his friends, he knew, but he felt especially bad for Skylor. Whatever had gone on between her and Liam wasn’t his place to ask, but his friend had been pissed, extremely pissed after Skylor had broken up with him and refused to divulge as to why. Of course, Kai had his suspicions but he didn’t want to say too much.

He crab walked silently over to Skylor and tried to place a reassuring hand on her back. She jerked back and recoiled immediately, her eyes flashing with danger and hurt.

“Please...don’t.”

“Is this about Liam?” 

She looked at him, loose locks of silky hair framing her face. “What do you think?”

“Did he...touch you or something?”

Skylor’s expression didn’t waver, but her breath hitched at his words. She was obviously uncomfortable talking about it, so Kai backed down. He’d had his fair share of girls trying to get into his pants without even talking to him properly, but he’d always pushed them away and they’d left quickly after that. Liam wasn’t the type of guy to back down easily and liked to get what he wanted.

He should have warned Skylor.

“You can talk to me if you ever need to.” He offered, waddling a step back with Ryu awkwardly sitting in his arms to give her space. “I’m here for you.”

She simply nodded and swallowed, looking back to the door.

“Thanks, but I don’t think you’d understand because you’re a—”

Footsteps cut her off, and her eyes went wide. Skylor jerked her head to the back entrance they’d somewhat plotted as a final escape, the door already half open and leading to some rando’s unlocked Prius. 

Kai mouthed their three-second countdown, slowly rising before slipping through the gap after Skylor and hurling himself into the passenger seat, tensing as Skylor hesitated over the gas pedal.

_ How the hell did they find us so fast? _

Two shots rang out as a warning, punching into the side door of the cat next to them. Skylor jumped at the gunshots and the car shot off as Kai stuck his head out of the window and shrieked as a bullet flew past. It was hard for her to avoid all the craters and holes in the ground, sometimes she had to drive in them and the little car would shudder with effort and then hurtle on determinedly.

Ryu had lost all sense of calm and was barking madly, with Kai’s half successful attempts to calm his puppy down failing while also keeping Skylor updated on the current gunfire location. Even with all the craters and holes Kai seriously doubted Skylor’s driving skill would get on her resume because he was thrown around the car and had bashed his head at least eight times on the roof because of her Mario Kart-to-reality driving skills.

“GO FASTER GO FASTER!”

“I  _ AM _ .” Skylor shouted back, hunched over the wheel.

They lapped three Chen’s Noodles and convenience stores when Skylor stopped the car.

“We have to leave it. We’re too loud, if we travel on foot—“

He’d already thrown himself out, knowing Skylor wouldn’t want him to drag her along, Ryu cradled in one arm he hurried into a tall office building and jammed the lift button. The horn went off again, and screeches from motorbikes, cackles and hisses followed. The Serpentine gang had been released then, just as Wu had promised. 

_ Survive _ , he ordered himself as they took the stairs instead.  _ For Nya, for your parents, for Ryu, for Skylor, for your friends, for— _

“Mister Smittthh!” giggled a manic voice from below. “Won’t you come down here and meet Miss Violet?”

Kai suddenly felt an urge to go downstairs and tell this crazy lady off, but Skylor shot him a pinning glare and he continued running up the carpeted stairs, trying to soften his heaving breaths. At the very top, they arrived in a room full of dusty old cabinets where Kai thought there really should be some CEO’s office, but instead was a maze of shelving that would provide them with some sort of cover for some time.

That didn’t change the fact that Kai wanted to know how the fuck they found them so fast.

Skylor took charge of their getaway, leading them through the maze on tiptoe feet like they were playing hide and seek as little kids. Instead, they were facing off a crazy lady armed with some firearm that was currently rattling through the boxes on shelves. Skylor’s hair had come fully undone from her hasty hairdo and curtained her pale shaky face as she pointed to the emergency exit.

The gunshots were getting dangerously close and Kai nodded once, keeping down as he crab-walked to the handle. Miss Violet, or whatever her insane name was, cackled again and it sent shivers down Kai’s spine. Combined with sirens wailing, people shouting and chanting their names like a death list (which really, it was), it was enough to have him opening the door, letting Skylor slip out and closing it carefully.

He set Ryu down far away from the edge and let the puppy pitter-patter around to shake off some energy before picking him up again. Kai’s hair gel was defeated by the strong winds passing overhead as it lost the shaped look and went all messy. It still retained it’s upright spiky shape but that added to the list of ‘Shitty things that have happened today’.

“We have nowhere to go.” He tried to shout above the wind. Skylor’s hair whipped around her as she turned, pointing to the maintenance ladder down the side.

_ How the fuck do I not let Ryu fall and climb down a fucking ladder at the same time? _

Skylor was already starting to climb down the shaky maintenance ladder, tense as he kept her body flat and close to the building. The wind up here would easily drag them off the ladder if they loosened their grip even slightly. Finally, hours on TikTok kicked in as Kai remembered a front sling made out of a shirt that he could put Ryu in. He backed up against a wall that would protect him from the wailing winds and stripped off his shirt, hurriedly tying it into the sling.

He hooked it over his neck and let it hang in front.

“Thank god you aren’t so big yet,” Kai dropped Ryu into the sling and tested the security. Satisfied, he began the climb downwards, checking every so often to see Skylor’s progress. She was taking a quick break on a slightly more stable balcony. 

The door to the rooftop slammed open just as Kai’s head disappeared below the edge and he held still, praying Ryu’s sling wouldn’t break.

“Where is  _ he? _ ” Violet giggled, skipping around the rooftop. “I know you’ve got that redhead with you too, Kai. Wouldn’t it be just sweet if something happened to her?”

Kai took another step down on a rung when he heard the chopping of helicopter blades from above. He slammed his back against the wall and squinted above him at the black helicopter hovering above. The door slid open and a figure in all black hopped out calmly, tugging on the small parachute that they cut away as they tumbled and sprung up in landing.

Ryu snuggled in closer to his chest and Kai knew what he had to do. He moved quickly down to the ladder and stepped onto the balcony Skylor stood on. He pulled off Ryu’s sling and dropped it over her head, patting and baby-talking to the puppy before climbing back up. He dared to peek back over the top again, hoping his hair wouldn’t give away their presence.

His eyes narrowed as he saw the newcomer fight of Violet, keeping pace with the madwoman’s life-striking strokes with a sword. Then he saw what the fighter was using. Two swords. Then a flash of white hair. That fighting style.

It was the same person who’d stabbed his father, tried to kill Nya and had stalked all of them.

_ This is a terrible idea _ , he could almost hear Skylor say.

Kai ignored it as he hauled himself up onto the rooftop as Violet and that girl neared the edge. The battle wasn’t going in the killer’s favour, and when Kai saw it, he took the chance. Violet stepped back to spin her sword in a dramatic show, the girl stepped onto the edge and Kai tugged at her ankles and tackled her off the edge.

In hindsight, it wasn’t such a good idea.

**zane**

The city was in so much more chaos than he’d thought possible. Before the announcements, even the riots wrecking the city were nothing compared to this. It was a full scale battle raging across the city, Serpentine, Ghosts and other gangs clashing against each other. It was only noticeable by the uniforms they wore, the tattoos snaking their skin and the chants bellowed out.

They were lucky the city was so vast, giving them someplace to hide until they could get out. Borders had been shut down all around Ninjago City, an impenetrable barrier of the city’s standing army. The streets were citizens looking for money - and a lot of them too, the price on their heads was a hefty sum of money that could satisfy a person for the rest of their life.

If someone thought they found an elemental they’d turn them into the palace, but as far as the giant ad screens - turned manhunt updates had revealed, none of his friends had been found. Like most of the city, Zane was wearing a black hoodie to blend in a best as he could. It helped that Pixal was by his side, pretending to search for him since being in a pair made people trust them more.

One the most frightening things - perhaps the most of all, was the maliciousness and hunger of which the people marching in the streets chanted their names. They overthrew carts and stalls, searched shops and stormed buildings, never once checking to see if their prey was among them. They were just swarming another skyscraper when Zane detected fire. 

It was far off, but it was burning fast and eating the fuel quickly. And the only place which had that much burnable materials lying around would be the Woodlands. The orange on the horizon was quickly gaining on the city and other people were beginning to notice. More wailing joined cacophony on the roads, fire engines and fighters quickly racing towards the fire.

“Nya and Jay are in the Woodlands,” Pixal whispered to Zane lowly, horrified.

“How do you know?”

“If they can’t contact us I at least wanted to know where they are. I placed trackers on them.” She replied, walking in time with the other rioters. “They are moving quickly to the edge of the land but the fire is almost there.”

The group was now marching up a slope that would take them to a higher viewpoint of the Woodlands. They’d be safe here, Zane knew. There was a sizable river that ran as a barrier, separating the Woodlands and the inner city. But anything else out there would be swallowed by the fire as soon as it could escape the forest. He and Pixal were incredibly lucky no one had noticed them, and it was about time they disappeared to mingle with another crowd of Wu’s supporters.

Zane kept his head down and tried not to flinch at the random fights breaking out. He felt incredibly sorry for any look-alikes in the city right now, for most of the low level thugs would try and deceive Wu. Before Zane had known his wise mentor was a traitor, he’d often gone to him for advice about fitting in with society since he was an android. The advice at the time had been thoughtful to Zane, but he found it suspicious now how Wu had only given him vague words.

Then came the fact that as soon as Zane had thought back to their trip, he’d realised he hadn’t learnt  _ anything  _ on that two week learning trip. All he’d been taught was how to sit cross-legged and ‘clear his mind’. Nothing about using their elemental powers or learning how to fight. He should have seen it before, he realised, his lips thinning in self-disappointment. Something was off about the Archives. The first Master of Ice, Ixue, had mentioned several times that he planned to write full length lessons in the Archive. Zane still had yet to see any signs of these lessons. 

Some entries seemed cut off and jagged, pieced together unnaturally like someone had tampered with them. Zane had thought it was just Ixue’s unique style of writing, but with further examination on a late school night the rest of the masters had similar choppy writing. His first conclusion was that perhaps the Masters of Ice had a distinctive way of writing that made them special, yet his own style was completely different.

His second conclusion had been that someone had tampered with the Archives to slow their progression of learning their elements, and now he could accuse Wu of doing so. Where the  _ real  _ Archives were peaked his curiosity but they had another, quite literal burning matter to attend to.

The fire seemed closer and several people who were at the front recoiled. He wasn’t as affected by the blistering heat that was already getting to the humans and he was thankful for that. 

“Zane,” Pixal nudged him gently in the side and he barely turned his head to listen to her anxious words. 

“Jay and Nya aren’t going to make it to the river.”

**A/N:**

**-dommie out**

**p.s get ready for like a whopping 6-10k word final chapter. you think 6k words are a lot? *laughs in ultra violet***


	43. [41] mid term finals but it's actually the final chapter holy crap-

**_listening to skyfall by adele on repeat is recommended for this chapter_ **

**jay**

“WHY COULDN’T  _ I _ BE THE MASTER OF FIRE?” Were the first words that tumbled out of his mouth when he finally caught a breath to pause. He regretted teasing Kai for having the power to roast marshmallows as he’d called it and moaned as he chugged his rapidly depleting supply of water.

Of  _ all  _ things that could have happened, someone had started a forest fire in the Woodlands where he and Nya were hiding. It had snuck up on them quickly and they were just plain lucky they weren’t burned yet. He hacked out a rough cough and winced at the soreness in his throat. Nya did the same, touching her eyes gently and letting out a pained hiss.

“Are you okay?” He managed to rasp out. Nya nodded and looked behind them fearfully.

“We have to run,” She croaked weakly. Jay hated the painful red rimming her eyes and the awful crack in her throat, but he knew she was right. They had to keep running or the very slim chance of them making it out of the Woodlands alive would lessen. The river was their only hope, and even that was the pinprick at the end of the tunnel.

Jay stumbled to his feet and offered her a hand. Nya took it and got up herself, slinging her bag over her shoulder before starting their jog. The crackle of the flames and the smoke and heat nipping at Jay’s heels almost made him want to succumb. His lungs were full of heavy smoke - so much of it he kept trying to cough out as if it would do something.

He had to keep running. Keep moving, make it to the river and lie in that stream forever and ever and let the cool water heal him. Jay coughed as he struggled forwards in the red haze, determined to get the end. His feet were moving at a sluggish pace that the football coach would have yelled at him for, but Jay wasn’t on the football team. He also wasn’t on the track team, so it was pretty hard for him to gauge really when it was a good idea to stop, how to breath through the exhaustion and pain.

There was like this dark monster curled up in his chest, slowly unfurling its wings as the smoke kept filling his lungs. His vision was swimming and blurry as he kept tripping forwards, barely making Nya out through hazy eyes. 

_ God it hurts so bad. _

_ Maybe I can just..stop? Yeah, that’s a good idea.  _

Jay was now fully convinced that stopping and sitting down would be the best course of action and did exactly that. He slumped onto a lump of rock and sucked in shaky breathes punctuated by smoky coughs.  _ I’m like a dragon,  _ he realised deliriously, giggling at the thought of himself turning into a massive blue dragon.

“JAY!” Someone was shouting very loudly, cutting straight through the pounding in his head. “Jay, we’re nearly at the river, you can’t stop now!”

The voice was full of determination and hope, mixed with a swell of concern. But he was so  _ tired _ . Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a second to ignore the burning around him, it would go away. Even with his eyes closed he could see a swirl of orange and red around him, teasing and touching him with eerie flames shaped like hands.

He was going to die, wasn’t he?

These fire demons would come to get him.

Suddenly he sat upright and backed up against a tree trunk half shrivelled with flames.

“NYA!” He bellowed, blinking back the tears as the soreness ripped his throat. “YOU NEED — YOU NEED TO GO. YOU CAN MAKE IT TO THE RIVER. THE DEMONS — THE DEMONS ARE...COMING FOR ME—”

Was the fire getting bigger and hotter or was it just him?

Yeah, he was definitely going to die here.

It was a surprisingly calm thought that shook his mental hand and patted him on the back. Jay closed his eyes, let a dreamy expression take over his face and felt the first few tears slip from his eyes.

“ _ NO! _ ”

The only reason he opened his eyes was because he could hear a wall of water rising and crashing towards him.

_ Saving him _ .

Nya let out a scream of anguish - and Jay saw the water part into two walls, the girl he’d do anything for sink to her knees and weep at the pain of losing her father, her brother and everyone she loved to a mentor who they’d  _ trusted _ and the water crashed down, dousing Jay and half of the fire. He stood there, shaking at the sudden rush of cold and gasped, slipping through the half-drowned forest to Nya.

She was curled up in a ball, shivering slightly. Her hair was plastered to her skin, a stark contrast of the raven locks to her pale, cold-touched skin as she sobbed. Jay dropped to his knees and rubbed calming circles into her back lying on his back next to her and curling up into a ball like hers.

“It’s okay Nya, don’t worry, you— you  _ saved  _ us. Your powers came back.”

“The fire—” She choked on her own sobs as she blinked weepy ocean eyes at him, “The fire said they’d kill you. They’d kill Kai, and mum and dad, they’d kill Skylor and Pixal, Lloyd and Zane and Cole and—”

“Shhhh,” He coaxed her into an upright position and held her as her body wrecked itself with tears. “I’m here bluebird, I’m  _ here _ , with you.”

She offered him a feeble attempt at a smile that spoke volumes. 

“Bluebird, eh? Nice nickname, Walker.”

Jay looked up into the dark eyes of the girl from his English class — Astra Harlow and laughed hoarsely as he spoke, very aware of the dimming in his eyes and the thrum in his head.

“She saved us. My bluebird saved us.”

And then everything went peacefully black.

**skylor**

Kai was officially the dumbest idiot she’d ever met.

First he’d decided to re-enter a battle with nothing to even defend himself with, and then he  _ tackled  _ someone off a fifty story rooftop without a second thought. He and the fight plummeted past the balcony Skylor was standing on and she swore loudly, hurrying down the ladder as fast as her shaky feet could go.

He wasn’t dead because he wasn’t allowed to die, like Nya had said.

Right?

A huge gust of wind tickled Skylor’s neck and she risked a quick look back and heaved a sigh of relief. The person he’d tackled had more brain cells than Kai and had deployed a secondary parachute, slowing their fall considerably. She only made it to the ground fifteen minutes later - pumped by adrenaline, two hundred metres in the air with a puppy and two bags weighing her down.

“ _ DIE! _ ” She heard Kai scream very loudly as she jumped the last few rungs, scrambling towards the scuffle between Kai and the fighter. 

The second parachute had been cut free, spilling like black ink on the pavement as Kai and the fighter rolled around on the ground throwing messy punches. Skylor shirked a step back as Kai howled with fury and anger, bringing back his arm to slam his fist towards his opponent. They rolled out his way and jumped to their feet easily, drawing out their two knives with a sadistic slash of smile, cut off by the half of the mask that had slipped down.

“Come get it, Fireboy. I don’t why you’re so pissed at me but let’s give it a go, shall we?” They taunted him, twirling the elegant knives skillfully.

“Kai, if you don’t want to die, just stop  _ fighting _ her.” Skylor yelled, setting Ryu and their belongings down. 

“She tried to kill my  _ father. _ ” He snarled and leapt forwards. They danced back with every wild hit he threw, taunting and goading him. Skylor groaned and rolled her eyes, picking up a chunk of metal piping. 

Kneeling, she looked into Ryu’s dark eyes and whispered, “Stay here buddy, okay? I gotta go save Kai from becoming a human shish kebab.”

“Hey, Fireboy cool down, okay? I get you’re all sad about your dad bleeding to death but I have him back at—”

“STOP TRYING TO HURT MY FAMILY,” Kai bellowed, his voice raw.

Skylor honestly wouldn’t have caught it if it wasn’t so bright. Kai’s fists had lit  _ on fire  _ and were swirling gauntlets of flames that he hurled towards the girl. 

“STOP FUCKING  _ STALKING  _ US, SO GET FUCKING  _ LOST _ .”

The gauntlets on his arms had turned into a full suit of fire protecting Kai as he advanced on the girl, who was now frozen still and staring in fear at the boy of fire before her. She did hold up to the the majority of the petty attacks Kai gave her, but it was when the fire surged and Kai saw her flinch in fear that the most un-Kai like, dark smirk crossed his face and the fire grew bigger and swelled in a ginormous dome enclosing the two of them.

Skylor could feel the heat from where she was standing and knew if she even tried to go near the fire, she’d be burnt to a crisp. This wasn’t a normal fire, it was elemental power and Kai was nowhere near in control of it.

“I hope you fucking  _ die  _ for what you’ve done to my family.” 

The gigantic dome of fire sucked inwards into a tornado and encased the poor girl as she screamed in pain, Kai standing there and the fire ate at her. The girl whimpered and the fire flickered for a second before Kai’s remorseless scowl came back and the fire returned.

Skylor should have warned him.

She barely saw the blur of black that hurtled towards Kai, shrieking in anger as it tackled him to the ground. The flames snapped out of existence as his concentration broke, but Skylor’s attention was fixed on the new fight. Kai was already losing - tired from his burst of power that had broken through what nullification Garmadon had put on them and fighting on pure anger at the burned girl.

The new attacker reeled back, their hand raised in a dangerous arc as they drew back their arm and sent the blade spinning for Kai’s stomach. He staggered back blankly as it pierced into him, blood spurting in a spray that made Skylor want to gag. Her feet dragged her forwards and she barely caught Kai as he collapsed to the ground, already hacking out mouthful of blood.

“I don’t know what the fuck you want with my family Kai Smith, but you better stay away.”

“ _ You— _ ” Kai hissed, trying to jab a finger at her. His face screwed up in pain as heaved heavy breathes. “Astra...Harlow. Fuck you.”

She laughed and then stared hollowly at the two of them. “Have fun, Smith.”

Skylor saw her through blurry tears, saw Astra pick up the limp, blackened body of what must be her sister and stagger away. If her sister was even alive. The ferocity and the anger behind the flames of Kai’s element scared Skylor to the point where she’d been frozen to the spot watching the fight go down.

“Skylor? I’m kinda... _ fuck _ , bleeding out—” He spat out another moutful of blood. “Might want to call for some help?”

“Kai, you absolute  _ moron _ of a  _ nincompoop _ of an  _ arsehole _ . Why would you fucking do that?” Skylor demanded, crouched over his body and staring at the mess of red.

“Hero complex,” he chuckled, his hands slippery with his own blood. He was trying to stop his own  _ bleeding out _ , the idiot. “Guess I carried it from football to fighting, huh?”

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ bleed out on me Smith.” She hissed between choked sobs. She bundled her hands in torn trips of her shirt, knowing she’d just throw up all over him and make it worse if she touched his bare skin like that. Even then, her hands quickly were strained red just by touching blood, red, so  _ red  _ and it was his blood that kept coming and coming and coming like it would never stop. “Just—just on hold, someone will be c-coming.”

“Chen,” he gasped, his hands joining her in a mess of blood and torn fabric. “No one is coming. You know that. Just…stay. Yeah, stay.”

The sudden bubble of their dramatic encounter fizzled away and Skylor was hearing the chaos in the streets, screaming and shouting, guns firing and hungry chanting.

“Kai.” More screaming tore through the streets, echoing in her ears, and the damn blood was  _ still coming _ . “I’m going to kill her.”

“No you won’t.” He chuckled, and coughed out a mouthful of ruby red liquid. “It was my fault I went after her sister. Shoulda…shoulda known.”

“That doesn’t—that doesn’t mean  _ anything _ . If she didn’t try to kill your father, who did—”

“Hello Ninjago,” crooned a sweet voice. It was coming from the billboards and the speaker around the city. And the face on that board was a face Skylor knew all too well.

Harumi.

Her hair had been straightened, a blinding white compared to the perky smile on her face. Then a slash of red paint across her eyes that made her look so... _ evil.  _ The untamed spite in her eyes stood out bleakly against the red face paint.

She looked insane.

“As the Great Emperor Wu’s second in command, I’d just like to check in with you on how the Hunt is coming along. I can assure you I’ve done my fair share of hunting, faithful citizens. Not long ago, I fatally injured Ray Smith, parent to not one, but  _ two  _ of the delicious elemental masters we’re hunting! Isn’t that so sweet? I just watched his son try and kill a person who had the same  _ hair _ as me. That’s rather rude on both halves, isn’t it? Well, I suppose I’m taking up essential time, hunters. Good luck, and don’t lose your prey!”

Harumi — innocent, preppy cheerleader, holder of parties and the best fake smile was working with  _ Wu?  _ Her parents had died — adoptive or not, and she’d  _ pretended  _ to care? Milked their tears, pretending to be hurt and lost as she was claimed by the Emperor and Empress, who were dead  _ too _ .

“He got Harumi too.” Skylor whispered to herself, glancing at Kai bleeding. “Harumi was the one who tried to kill your father and she let someone else take the blame for it. What a fucking  _ bitc— _ ”

“I should start dying more often if it means you’re going to start cussing like a pirate.” He couldn’t laugh, but he was still trying to be funny, for her. 

She had to do something for him.

Her fingers slipped over the screen as she punched the numbers in for a contact she’d used for a group project.

It rang for thirty seconds before she picked up.

“He _ llo _ ? Kinda busy right now — hey, gimme back my sword—” there was a loud  _ twang  _ like a taut string releasing before the breathless voice returned to the speaker. “Is this about me stabbing Smith, cause he really deserved it. Troya’s got third degree burns and she—”

“I need your help. Please. Just, someone needs to help me, Wu never taught us first-aid, I mean, he never taught us _anything,_ the bastard, _please_. He’s got a sister, and his parents, and a puppy — and — and he’s got me and I can’t do this—”

“My god, you sound like one of Bella’s romance novels. I’ll help. I was going to help anyway, until he decided to try and… I’ll meet you at Chen’s on Aubry Street.”

Astra hung up, the number now used twice.

The first to ask for help on the group project in science, the second to ask for help for the bleeding boy in front of her.

Skylor’s mouth hung open as her brain tried to figure out how the hell she was supposed to get Kai to Aubry Street when her eyes landed on a wheelbarrow. She rolled it over to where his vulnerable body lay and stared at the horrible knife in his stomach. 

“This is going to hurt—a lot but someone is coming to help, you just need to get in the barrow so I can push you over to my dad’s place on Aubry, okay?”

He groaned in response, only acknowledging her wobbly request with the slightest dip of his head. It was awkward heaving him in and he cried out in pain so many times in which she sobbed to herself, accidentally coating the handles in his blood, but she kept pushing him to Aubry where the ridiculous animatronic-like chant was repeating itself over the doorway.

She was about to call Astra again when three blotted figures stained her blurry vision were stalking towards her. Skylor collapsed in relief as the familiar figure of Astra strode into view. Her stomach churned and she hurled into the shop front’s potted plant and sucked in a pained breath.

“Shit, I did  _ not  _ think he’d bleed that much—oh god—” The woman on her left sighed and turned Astra around to face the other way.

“She faints when she looks at blood,” she explained quickly, crouching down to peer at Kai in the wheelbarrow. “My name is Obi, and over there is Maul,”

Maul waved cheerily, abruptly turning around when the hacking sounds coming from Harlow got louder. Considering Skylor had just thrown up, Astra was abnormally loud chucking the contents of her stomach.

Obi ignored it and continued assessing Kai with sharp eyes. “He’s not doing well.”

“I think I realised.” She spat back, waving her red hands towards him, feeling her stomach swirl again. “Just help him, I know we’re not on the same side but please—”

The doctor cut her off with a calming  _ shhh _ . “You’re not doing so well either Skylor, maybe you should—“

“How’d you know my name?” She yawned suddenly. Struggling to keep her eyelids open, she only just saw Obi holding a spray bottle with the cap off. “Why’d you spr _ aaa _ yy me…” 

**lloyd**

“Are they gonna wake up anytime soon?” 

There were four bodies in the medical wing, their chests rising and falling steadily. Well, one was. And that was Skylor’s since Obliterate had deemed her the least injured of his friends. Jay and Nya were suffering from intense smoke inhalation and something that had been put in the fumes. The doctor didn’t know what, but she had taken a lot of notes when Jay and Nya woke for the first time.

Kai had been wheeled in on one of those trolleys you see in ambulances, the blood from his wound seeping through the bandages around his torso. The knife was still in there when he’d arrived, but he’d been whisked away to emergency surgery and came back several hours later unconscious, but his chest rising and falling shakily.

Lloyd still had no idea what was happening. First, after they’d decided to go out and find his friends, they were planning to go to the centre of the city and weed them out, but the fire eating at the Woodlands quickly caught their attention. Astra had taken a car - with permission or not wasn’t revealed - and they’d found Jay and Nya slumped over each other, slightly burned but soaked to the bone in water from the river.

It was the most astonishing thing to see as Nya relaxed, the water slowly slid back into the river and stayed there. Jay was barely conscious enough to say that she ‘saved us’ before blacking out, but it gave Lloyd enough context. Whatever was in that smoke had made them gone insane because both were muttering about how they were going to die and other people were going to die.

He caught his name in there once or twice.

Then they’d gone through the city and by chance had caught Kai overwhelmed by his elemental powers like Nya had been in a living suit of fire. Astra had leapt into the fight and freaking  _ stabbed  _ Kai, so Lloyd wasn’t speaking to her now. She didn’t explain why, but she’d dropped Troya, Jay, Nya and Lloyd off before zooming away.

“Skylor should wake up first, then Nya and Jay. Not sure about Kai.” Titanium took a swig of some drink and scrunched up his face as he swallowed. “What the hell is this?”

“Where’d you get it from?”

“Your bag, you said I could have some.” Titanium frowned. “Why is there Vengestone in your tea, Lloyd?”

“ _ Vengestone?  _ No, that’s Amnestone…” Lloyd trailed off, looking at the bottle in horror. “Are you sure that’s Vengestone?”

“One hundred percent. How long have you been drinking this for?”

“Maybe three months...a little under, why?”

“You said your powers weren’t working, right? And they used to?”

“Kind of,” Lloyd muttered lowly. “Wu gave us the tea. He said Amnestone was the opposite of Vengestone and it was a new discovery but similar but made us focus and muted everything around us. We drank a lot of it.”

“He’s been poisoning you, Lloyd. There’s no such thing as Amnestone. New discovery my ass. Because you’ve taken in so much in as small amounts it adds up and there’s always Vengestone in your system. He’s been muting your powers for three months.”

“This is so much bigger than I thought,” He whispered hoarsely, sinking onto a free bed. “First it was just  _ him  _ masterminding this, then he’s been tricking us and poisoning us? Harumi had to be cherry on top, didn’t she?”

“Why do you care about his Second?” Titanium looked at Lloyd then shrugged. “Good luck man.”

_ Why do I care about Rumi - Harumi? _

_ I trusted her. _

_ I told her everything. _

“I just can’t believe everything we thought was you guys was  _ Wu _ . It’s ridiculous. We thought you had a machine blocking our powers, that you were following Nya and Kai, picking off powerful people like my uncle had said.” 

He sighed and rubbed at his eyes, trying to rid the image of Harumi’s painted face and devious smile.  _ Maybe Wu had tricked her too, like he tricked Morro. There’s no way she’s evil. She was so sad when her parents died and after the attack on the Emperor and Empress...she disappeared. I can bring her back. _

“I guess it was easy for Wu to pin the blame on us. He’s always hated the Sons of Garmadon even though they sheltered me and Garmadon taught me how to use my powers. Not in the most conventional by the books way, of course, he’s the Lord. But well enough I can use it to invent and fight in battle. Do you want to see my wings?”

“Your...what?”

“My metal wings,” Titanium corrected himself as they walked out of the medbay, leaving his unconscious friends to sleep. “I got the idea a few weeks back and I’ve been working on them non-stop since I finished my latest duck. They’re shaped like kites and there are two of them, they go on each of my arms and cover my fingers to the end of my elbow. They can’t actually make me fly, I  _ wish _ , but the cool part is that the feathers aren’t just for design. They’re actually daggers.”

His new friend had led him into a workshop where metal scraps lay scattered all over benches, random tools and weapons tossed casually to the side. The main table had two stands on show, with each of the kite shaped arm shields propped up on them. They looked insanely cool, made of black metal with the feathers a shade lighter and traces of silver lining the shields. Titanium was really good at what he did, and just by looking around the room Lloyd knew he was dealing with an expert.

“Woah. I wish I knew how to use a real weapon. Wu didn’t teach us anything to do with fighting, let alone our elemental powers.”

“I can teach you how to use this,” Titanium handed Lloyd a thin, curved sword of bluish metal which he nearly dropped.

“What is it?”

“Usually Tellum would fit you out with a weapon, but I’m confident you’ll do well with an avarian sabre. I have a feeling you’re going to need to know how to fight in the future. This is far from over. The Lord doesn’t like his brother being in power and wants to cause as much chaos as possible right now.”

“Our agents, scouts and members are fighting against Wu to weaken his numbers a little. Your father has done a lot of work, Junior. The Sons of Garmadon aren’t just a street gang. We’re practically an army.”

Lloyd waved the sabre around experimentally and was pleased to find while it was uncomfortable at the start, it was beginning to feel more natural. “Can you stop calling me Junior? I’m nothing like my father.”

“Are you, really? You both have the same determined look, except I don’t know what you’re going to do.”

Lloyd flinched. Whenever someone had related him to his father it had always been bad. Yet this guy admired his father - like the rest of the underground empire Garmadon had built, they followed him by choice. It made his father sound….good. 

Lloyd wasn’t sure what the balance between good and bad was anymore.

Titanium then proceeded to give Lloyd a 101 on how to use the sabre with three basic defense and attacks. He was nowhere near the ease with which his friend wielded the weapon, but when he sheathed it in a back scabbard, he felt more confident in his ability to defend himself besides dirty fighting. 

“They’re bombing the city with Blast Sap again,” Titanium noted randomly, more attuned to the underground vibrations. He ushered Lloyd out of his workshop, looking to his comm and nodding to himself. 

“The Lord has requested we meet in the war room. They’re planning our final attack.”

**pixal**

It was dark inside the bag.

At least, Pixal assumed it was a bag. The rough hessian brushed across her cheeks as her feet stumbled along blindly, sloshing through water that she gauged was from the sewers. Their kidnappers had made a fatal - an unknowable mistake, but a fatal one all the same when they brought Pixal and Zane down here with bags over their heads.

She simply switched her vision to a mode where she could see through the bag in shades of black and white. For the most part, it was relatively boring walking and low murmurs of conversation, slipping her hand into Zane’s cold one. His hand was always cold, but she didn’t mind.

They’d watched from afar as a wall of water that they’d quickly sourced to Nya’s powers coming back and snuck off in that direction to hope that their friends were there. At that point, the city had turned feral during the Hunt. Pixal had seen Harumi’s announcement, and one following that asking the people to call her the ‘Quiet One’. 

Pixal really wasn’t surprised.

She’d never liked Harumi previously, but she guessed Lloyd would be feeling down. As much as he tried to hide it, his longing looks and secret glances to Harumi were not as subtle as he could have been. Pixal and Zane caught on quickly and watched the relationship bloom in the background, happy to see Lloyd smiling more than he’d been before.

And now...now Pixal felt very sorry for him.

“Where do you want them?”

“Reaper has requested for the prisoners to be taken to the war room.”

“The kid? The  _ kid’s _ making calls now? This place is going to the dogs, I swear, Arsyn.”

“Bad thing we’re already bitches then, huh?” replied the so-called Arsyn with a scoff.  _ Interesting, code names _ . “Better make it quick. The Lord isn’t in a good mood right now and he’s hungry for blood.”

Pixal was shoved along through numerous corridors when they came to a stop outside a plain black door. The bags were snatched off and Pixal snuck Zane a reassuring smile. As always, he was the picture of calm, his blue eyes meeting her green with silent strength. A pillar of comfort she could always rely on.

“You can go through,” muttered their captor, jerking their head towards the door. 

Pixal stepped forwards, not wanting to waste another second and opened the door. She was not ready, not at  _ all  _ prepared to see the rest of her friends clustered one side of a gigantic table, maps, tables and charts strewn over it, with the infamous Lord Garmadon at the front.

His dark eyes met her and he nodded, dipping his head to the only free chairs by her friends.

“Take a seat Miss Borg. And you too, Mister Julien. We’ve got a lot to discuss.”

o o o

Pixal had scanned the situation incorrectly.

Not all of her friends were present. Skylor, Jay and Nya, all looking battered and bruised were at the furthest end from Garmadon, Lloyd and Cole as a weird buffer in between. There were also three other people who Pixal remembered from school. Zander, Annabella and Kade. Kai was nowhere to be seen, a strange fact considering the rest of her friends were there. She sank into the chair slowly, feeling her skin prickle under the gaze of SOG members across the table.

“Now that we’re all here,” Garmadon said pleasantly, “I have a plan.”   


“Oh,  _ now  _ we have one?” snapped a hooded member. They threw their hood back, revealing sharp features, a glower and hair braided tightly. 

Garmadon ignored her and looked to Pixal and her friends. “I heard my brother’s been poisoning you with Vengestone tea. Devious and cunning, as he always was.”

“He’s  _ what? _ ” Zane spluttered. “What about Amnestone?”

“Doesn’t exist,” said a gruff voice from beside the girl who was still scowling at Garmadon. “Lloyd told me everything. Wu made it up, and the ‘feeling’ you’ve been having that he  _ said  _ was you focusing was really just your powers being blocked. I’m Titanium, by the way.”

Zane looked to his hands in horror and Pixal patted him on the back gently. She knew how much he’d admired their ex-mentor and it hurt a lot to see someone sneak up from behind and stab them in the back.

“Why are we talking about this?” Nya spat harshly, her voice croaky and rough. Jay handed her a water bottle which she chugged from. “As far as we know, we can’t trust you. You’re just as bad as your brother.”

“You’re alive here, Smith.” said the same girl as before, her voice dangerously low. “And I think that says enough, unless you want me to change that.”

“Stand down, Reaper.” Garmadon ordered, looking to Pixal’s side with bleak honesty in his expression. “You need us. In a matter of hours, the city has been turned into a giant anti-elemental protest.”

“You have done damage to us without even  _ standing  _ by our side.” Skylor hissed, her eyes flickering to ‘Reaper’s’. “We could run.”

“And they’d find you,” Reaper said in the same cold tone as before. “They’d find you, and kill you. Or they’d put you on display and Wu would use you as a show of power, as  _ puppets _ .”

“It doesn’t concern you though, the only elemental master you have is Garmadon.” Jay countered, slipping his hand into Nya’s. Her cheeks flushed pink but she kept her determined gaze on the argument.

Reaper barked out in laughter but her expression fell quickly. “Master of Death, pleased to you. Not really, but take a look behind you and you’ll find Kade, Master of Healing, and Titanium here is the Master of Metal. So don’t think it doesn’t concern us, because it fucking does. Admit it, you need us.”

Pixal glanced to her friends and their broken, battered expressions. They’d lost hope already, but were stubbornly fighting to remain independent. Of course, it was hard to trust anyone else when the person who had been feeding them everything had betrayed them.

“We need you,” she said softly. “It doesn’t mean we like you, but we need you. What’s your plan?”

“We trash the city,” Garmadon started carefully, watching them like a hawk. “But instead of swords and guns, we do it with elemental powers and show them that we are something to be afraid of.”

“Isn’t that counter intuitive to trying to reverse their anti-specialist-elements movement?” Someone said from the rank of SOG members.

“I just want to make trouble for Wu. If he sees we’ve formed a united front and that our powers are stronger than his and the masters he has on his side, he’ll have a stick up his ass.”

“ _ Sir! _ ” Gasped one of the members, clearly shocked.

“How are we supposed to get the Vengestone we’ve swallowed out of us? Only Nya and Kai have got their powers back.” Lloyd said, and Pixal caught a hint of bitterness and jealousy in there. 

Zane cleared his throat. “We don’t know much about wielding our elements either. The Archives have turned out to be very unhelpful apart from divulging into certain personal areas and few tips that are available to us.”

Garmadon laughed - an eerily similar laugh to the sharp bark Reaper had given earlier. “Wu gave you  _ fakes _ ? My, he’s spent a long time planning this. I have the real copies of the Archives with me, he must have copied them when we were younger. What a sneaky bearded bastard.”

“Again, how are we getting our elements?” Lloyd repeated harshly to his father.

“Oh, we’re going to pump your stomachs.” Another SOG member said offhandedly. “We can’t exactly give you a traumatic experience to endure at the moment, but once it’s out of your system and with some sparring and riling up it should kick back in.”

Everyone grimaced, Jay most of all. “For our elements, heh?” He chuckled nervously, and Pixal sent him a sympathetic look.

“Let’s get started then, shall we?” Garmadon stood and looked at them. “Reaper and Titanium will assist you after you have your stomachs pumped. In three hours, my troops will be assembled to work alongside you, and at midnight we shall strike.”

There was a dangerous, hungry glint in his eyes. “Welcome to war, little ones.”

**astra**

Seeing Jay Walker get his stomach pumped was incredibly hilarious.

He shivered and trembled when Obi and Joker put the pipe down his throat and then went fairly still as the numbing kicked in on his throat. She was very glad she hadn’t consumed any Vengestone since getting your stomach pumped looked to be a very uncomfortable process.

Lounging in one of the chairs, she watched as Jay was moved to another bed and Skylor was prepped to get her stomach pumped. There was only Lloyd, Cole and Zane left after her, and with an hour’s rest with their elemental healing, they should be ready for Astra and Titanium to kick start their elements. 

It would be fun.

They were currently waiting in the reception. Her legs were lying on Kade’s lap as she squished herself into the chair next to him so her spine resembled a cooked piece of spaghetti. In a hoodie and sweatpants, she was very comfortable and hoped that Kade wouldn’t move. His hair had gone uncut for a long time and was parted down the middle, framing his boyish face quite nicely. 

He scrolled through his phone as she did, tapping to the gentle rhythm of the song playing on her socked feet. Really, if it was anyone else messing up the beat to Ophelia and playing with the cuff of her pants, she might have hit them over the head, but it was Kade.

And that confused her so much.

How could one person make her feel...she couldn’t describe it, the feeling of freeness and comfort, trust, and loyalty that lay in those blue eyes that told her everything.

Kade made her feel good about herself.

“What?” His mouth stretched into an easy smile as he cocked his head. “You’re staring at me.”

“No I’m not,” she said quickly. “There’s a, uh, um, a bee on the wall behind you.”

“Are you sure?” Kade raised an eyebrow quizzically. 

“Yes, yes I’m very sure. Why?” 

“I have a severe allergy to bees, Astra. I have to remind you every three weeks.”

“Lactose intolerant  _ and  _ allergic to bees? Man, your life is—”

“So there’s no bee?” 

“It flew away?”

“Yeah right,” he laughed and looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “Do you have—”

“—chocolate chip with walnuts? Yeah.” She fished around in her pockets and brought out a plastic bag with a slightly crushed gigantic cookie for Kade. “I made them at like three this morning so it’s not exactly fresh, sorry.”

“Oh, that’s where you were.”

_ Right he was just up at three am looking for me. Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool. _

“They’re ready to go,” Obi said, walking into the reception with her hair twisted back and bags under her eyes.

Astra reluctantly removed her legs from Kade’s lap and yawned, stumbling in Kade’s side as they walked out to the arena. She stripped off her jumper and pants, leaving her in her training clothes. Still slightly dozy, she stretched and nodded to the other elemental masters as they gathered around the mat, all with a vague expression like they wanted to puke.

“Nya, you’ll go with Titanium. He’ll give you a rundown in some basic exercises in case your elemental powers fail you. Once these guys have their powers working we’ll group back.” The Smith sibling glared at her, but walked away with Titanium as she turned to the remaining elemental masters. Zane, Lloyd, Cole, Skylor and Jay were attempting a strange sort of stretching exercise. Kade was just stretching normally, his muscles flexing as he moved into a lunge.

“What the hell are you doing?” She laughed as they all frowned at her from the wacky position they were in.

“Uh, flying elephant? Wu taught it to us.” Jay said matter of factly.

“When will you learn to ignore everything Wu’s taught you? A guy with that long of a beard  _ cannot  _ be trusted. Forget everything he’s taught you and just listen to me.”

Astra quickly ran through some stretching exercises and then gave them a meditation routine to complete. They could either bring out their elements with harsh emotions like hers, Nya’s or Kai’s. Or, she could try and instill their bodies into complete calm, and with the Vengestone out of their systems, it should _ theoretically _ be easy. She produced a bowl of water for Zane, a handful of pebbles and rocks for Cole, a lamp for Jay and a light bulb for Lloyd.

Jay’s and Lloyd’s powers confused her, but as Garmadon had explained to her, Jay could only use  _ electrical  _ energy, whereas Lloyd’s powers could theoretically change into any type of energy. She’d have Lloyd heat up a kettle if his powers worked well enough, but it would be easy for him and Jay to work alongside each other.

“Feeling calm?” She asked as their eyes opened. They nodded and glanced at the materials in front of them. “I’m sure you can guess what these are for. I’ll come by you one by one starting with Zane, but for now just try and guess or have a go at using them.”

Astra sat next to Zane, shivering slightly at the coldness he radiated naturally. They went through what Zane thought his element was about, and then she asked him to hold the bowl and think about their brainstorm. It was slow, sure, but it was amazing to see. The bowl of water slowly froze itself and Zane was overjoyed with himself. 

She repeated this procedure several times with the rest of the masters, unique to their own element. Cole created a mini earthquake with the few pebbles, Jay managed to light the lamp for a few seconds and Lloyd...Lloyd did nothing except summon a swirling ball of green stuff that did nothing but numb you, almost as if it sucked out your energy. 

Not what she was originally going for, but they had to work with it. For the next half an hour, with Nya back, she and Titanium worked on them replicating their powers on bigger scales. It was harder for her since her powers were still iffy, but Kade was another voice of advice as he helped the newbies magnify their elements. They found the most effective measures, unfortunately, were subjecting them to their fears.

At the moment, Nya and Jay were very against the idea of fire, which Astra used against them. She felt a little sorry for Jay, not at all for Nya because Kai had burnt her sister like a chicken nugget. She was in her own room in the hospital, wrapped from head to toe in bandages and slathered with burn salve. In one of the gigantic training rooms, Astra watched their small elemental alliance with a grim expression.

It had taken a  _ lot  _ of prodding and whining and blathering to get the newbies to wear the shock bracelets. The shocks would do something fancy that Maya had cooked up for Astra, but essentially triggered fears or memories that would short circuit their elemental powers into overdrive. All they had to work on right now was focusing on controlling these overwhelmed powers, at least a little.

However much Garmadon wanted to cause chaos and war, they couldn’t let the entire city be destroyed. 

_ Although he’s a dickhead, it’s a shame we don’t have fire. Wait a minute— _

“Skylor!” Astra yelled, beckoning the girl over. “We’re going to visit your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Skylor said stoutly as they entered the hospital. 

“Alright, don’t get your pants in a twist. Touch him.”

“Touch him?"

“To absorb his powers? God, Wu really lead you on didn’t he?”

“I haven’t done it before,” Skylor whispered, staring at Kai’s sleeping form. Astra sensed it went deeper than that and sat down next to the redhead.

“Look, I know you’re sorta angry at me for uh, stabbing him, but it would really help if you used his powers. The more elements the better, huh?”

“I...can’t touch him. I just can’t.” She replied, her voice shaky slightly before it strengthened. “But maybe...I can borrow Nya’s? In any case when we’re uh, destroying the city, their powers would counteract each other, so more water would probably be more effective, right?”

Astra nodded feverishly. More power was better in any case. “Sure, sure, I’ll get you a bracelet and Nya can explain to you what she’s learnt so far.”

Skylor nodded as they walked back out towards the training area and Astra sucked in a breath at the magnificent sight.

It was sad what they had to do to jump start their powers, but the humongous wave of water crackling alive with webs of electricity sent shivers down her spine as Jay and Nya slowly worked together, parting their powers and rejoining them, egged on by the memory shocks. It was less effective for Jay since he was the lightning elemental, but it worked, and that’s all they needed.

Zane was working with Pixal to upload something to himself. Astra had been shocked, but not surprised, at the fact that Zane and Pixal were androids. Robots, but given their...peculiar behaviour she’d seen at school, she couldn’t say she was surprised. Pixal was helping Zane with something she’d already downloaded to give herself fighting abilities, and as always, the more manpower the better. They were now brainstorming how to use his ice and newfound fighting skills together.

Cole and Lloyd’s powers were harder for her to have working together. Cole was working on earth walls, dragging them out of the ground, spiked by the feelings and memories prodded by the shocks. Lloyd...she had no fucking idea what Lloyd was doing, and it didn’t look like he did either. He just had orbs of green energy floating around while he meditated, and the Lord himself training his son.

At some point Garmadon had handed out the real Archives and everyone was balancing in between reading and trying out the lessons. Self taught elementals were often the strongest, Garmadon had said. So he just jumped in occasionally and tried not to make the elemental he was teaching shake in their boots from fear, but they seemed to value his advice.

Finally, two hours after getting their stomachs pumped, they were strapping on their gear.

The new elementals had moved into her dorm for the time being, her old roommate had finally made it from apprentice to a fully trained member, so there was even more extra room for the five people staying in the dorm. When they walked back in after showers, they found on each bed a new set of uniforms. 

There were all the same fitted black base, stretchy material for flexibility and cool fabric. Astra slipped hers on, noting the threaded dark purple outlining it and creating swirling patterns, a detachable hood and cape, special slits in her boots for more daggers and a purple threaded utility belt holding the scabbard for her katana.

She made quick work of her weapons, checking them before sheathing her sword and knives and slinging her bow and quiver over her back.

“We look very...badass,” Pixal commented, admiring her uniform. Her details were swirls of silver-emerald green.

Skylor’s were an orange that surprisingly didn’t clash with her hair and Nya’s was an ocean blue that matched her eyes. Bells sat on her bed sketching out something, a knife lying next to her.

“Good luck. Oh, when you come back I have some ideas to speak with your clothes department, Astra. The capes are highly ineffective, but showy. The gesture is appreciated.”

“Thanks, Bells.” Astra glanced at her comm and looked to the others. “It’s time.”

They walked silently to the underground parking base where Astra sat on her bike, fiddling with some extra controls and loading additional arrows and bolts into the hidden compartment. Jay, Skylor and Nya were being driven by Arsyn while the boys were being driven by Typhoon.

The city was eerily quiet, like Wu had ordered them in wait for the last charge. The sky glittered down on them, streets barely illuminated by weak cold lights. It felt like the perfect setting for the final battle. Astra parked her bike in a lot and remembered the location in her comm for later and climbed up the ladder to perch on the rooftop of a two-storey bakery, scanning her surroundings while Thorn’s GA training hammered into her head kicked in.

With DEAWS performed, Astra lifted up the mask to cover half her face, listening for the beat of footsteps to come.

“Arsyn, Ty, have you guys arrived at the rendezvous point yet? Over and out.”

“We have arrived, Arsyn over and out.”

“We have arrived, Typhoon over and out.”

“Maul will let us know when they are coming.” Astra watched as a dark figure clambered up the ladder, their metal armour and shields concealed by black cloth.

“Titanium, you ready?”

“As ever, Reaper.”

“This Maul, their first ranks are approaching Reaper and Titanium’s position. Over and out.”

Astra nodded to herself, hiding the adrenaline kicked smile as she nocked her first explosive arrow. Titanium discarded the black cloth, revealing two kite-shaped arm shields with metal feathers and a hammer at his hip.

“Zeroed in, fifty metres away from vantage point. Over and out.”

She saw the first ranks of the police section march forwards and froze at the magnitude of the army. Wu’s allies severely outweighed theirs. He had the Serpentine gang, his elemental masters, and the Ninjago City resting army. Their scouts told them it wasn’t his full force out tonight - that would be plain stupid, but they outnumbered them three to one as it already was.

“In line,” Maul said confidently, “Fire.”

Astra shot off three arrows quickly and ducked at the return gunfire, pleased to hear the yell from the explosions peppering the ground. Titanium flung up a shield made of metal pieces left on the rooftop conveniently into a wall as Astra sent off six more arrows and heard them punch through their mark.

“Up there, on the rooftop!” Shouted the Police Commissioner gruffly. 

“You’re a right prick, you know that?” She yelled back, sighting simultaneously. 

“Open fire!” He commanded, and she flung herself down to the rooftop as Titanium’s shield was battered with bullets trying to get through the thick metal.

“Typhoon, get your elementals and troops out  _ now _ ,” Astra barked into her comm. She dropped her bow to summon all evil thoughts (example, her parents) and formed a gigantic purple ball. She threw it down at the crowd of police officers and frowned as they quickly shook off the decaying effect. Some of them dropped to the ground, but it was clear she still didn’t have a hang on her powers.

“Watch out men, the earth elemental’s on the— _ AH! _ ” Screamed a commander as Cole’s powers rippled through the city.  _ The shocks are working well _ . Astra dropped down a floor and stood on the balcony, pleased at the sight of their chaos before her.

Cole was bringing up walls of earth and rock wherever Wu’s forces tried to leave, but he couldn’t hold them for long. Zane then sent in his ice to reinforce the walls, striking up spikes of ice when possible. Zane and Cole were simply their boxers - cramming Wu into a space where Nya, Jay and Skylor would do the real damage. And if Lloyd got a hold on his energy, that would be preferable too.

“Send in Pixal and Zane with Typhoon and Arsyn. Nya, Jay and Skylor, let’s flood this bitch.”

Astra had never really liked swimming, but at that moment, she knew if she was down there, she’d be doggy paddling for her life. The trio had been dropped off near one of the biggest water and electrical sources in Ninjago, and the wall of water that was slowly forming with the combined efforts of Nya and Skylor looked freaking awesome.

Then Jay stepped in and began incorporating his lightning that mixed with the restless water waiting for their call, swirling a magnificent cascade of blues shimmering under the stars.

“Let it drop in three, two, one,  _ now! _ ”

The wall turned into a huge wave that plummeted down to the police and army ranks, crackling alive with electricity and raw elemental powers. It smashed like a hammerhead into the front ranks as the soldiers desperately tried to keep afloat but were shocked with the lightning rampaging through the water. Screams and wails filled the city and echoed back an eerie song of misery as they swam for their lives.

“Let’s fucking  _ go _ , hell yeah!” She cheered, already climbing down to the main streets. “Release the pack, Big G!”

She tumbled neatly to stand on her feet as the water push died away, leaving shocked people frozen and numb as Astra loaded her crossbow and shot off several bolts straight for the conscious people. Titanium moved in a blur of metal beside her, making sure the semi-conscious people would stay unconscious with a mighty sweep of his hammer.

Now that Wu’s forces thought their elemental push was over, they were rejuvenated and pulled out their weapons with a growl. But first, the Serpentine gang tried to stride intimidatingly to the front as they sharpened their curved swords and marched forwards.

She was aware of the Sons of Garmadon forces following her and Titanium forwards before they halted. Two sides, one dressed in all black and welcomed by the shadows, the other a mess of colours for each tribe they worshipped. Her eyes picked out the commanders in each shamble of a rank and she shot off the first arrow for the leader of the Hypnobrai.

_ That’s for sending a fucking high school kid to kill me you bastard.  _ He fell back with a scream and the Serpentine gang leapt forwards to meet the deadly lines of Garmadon’s forces. Her katana slashed through the lines remorselessly as her suit splattered with dark blood, punching in and out of bodies that crumbled with satisfying wails of pain from the Serpentine half. 

As a Fangpyre member threw a spinning knife towards her, Astra rolled forwards and hissed as it nicked her ear and prompted hot blood to flow down. She threw the knife back at the Fangpyre and rolled forwards to pummelled them with a series of efficient jabs that knocked them out cold.

“Nya, another water wall please. Not as big, but Skylor, double Jay’s lightning in there. Build and drop as soon as you can.” Astra whispered hurriedly into her comm as she twisted around a sword, avoided a gunshot and felt her fingers automatically prepare her crossbow and shot another Venomari with a twisted smile.

“But it’ll hurt you guys too!” Jay countered and then yelled as she heard a sword swipe over him. His shock bracelet went off and he retaliated against the enemy with bolts of lightning.

“Thanks for caring Walker, but our suits are made of some shit that will block most of your electricity. Now hurry and get it going!”

Barely a minute passed when she heard the familiar shouts of fear as another wall of freezing cold water crashed down on them and the doubled lightning made quick work of shocking even more troops temporarily. Cole and Zane were working together even from afar as the former summoned huge pillars to sprout up out of nowhere and the latter was making the streets of the city an ice porcupine.

It was perfect chaos and she loved it.

Wu’s troops were scattered and scared as they fled from the raging, raw power of the elements that they feared.

And then it all went quiet.

The billboards came to life, the image flickering slightly before revealing Wu standing solemnly in front of the camera. Astra watched his every move carefully as Wu summoned a spiral of golden whisps to curl around his forearm gently. Any hope of a fake had disappeared as his element settled itself into the shape of a tea cup and then formed one.

“Brother, I appreciate your sadistic efforts to try and prove yourself, but all you’ve done is reveal your hand of cards. There’s no way my former bumbling baboons of students would be able to coordinate this. I suppose it’s only fair if I share my own card. Please step in...Dr Borg.”

_ Fuck. Pixal isn’t going to— _

“Thank you, Emperor Wu. It’s a pleasure to see you all standing here, fighting for what you...what you believe is right.” She frowned as Borg’s stumble, as his happy expression returned and he smiled once again. “As the biggest technological provider, I want to help Ninjago advance its technology to make the people happier.”

“And to do that, I’m glad to say that I’ll be helping Emperor Wu in his journey for a new, better era. Whatever ties my past may have had is cut. I have been...f-funding his rise to the throne and will continue helping him as I  _ k-know  _ it’s the right decision.”

“FUCK YOU!” Astra bellowed loudly, but Borg couldn’t hear her through the screen.

“Now, I’d like to invite our newest...helper, you may say, on screen.” His joyous smile changed to a forced conniving grin. “Please don’t struggle, Master Chen. After all, it’s for your daughter.”

Master Chen of the famous noodle house chain was wrestled on camera by two bully boys, his crazed, red tinged eyes staring at the camera wildly.

“Ari—Aria? Are you, are you there? I can see you, I can see you, I can see  _ everything _ —”

“What have you done with my  _ father? _ ” screamed Skylor’s voice, just as a swirling ball of raw Amber power smashed into the big screen and cracked it. “I  _ HATE  _ YOU WU,  _ I HATE YOU! _ ”

“That’s not all folks!” Borg continued cheerily, ignoring the scene behind him with a fake smile. “Miss Maya Smith is also in our custody! Don’t worry Nya, we’ll keep her safe as long as you comply! Unfortunately, Dr Julien and Mr Brookstone of the Royal Blacksmiths couldn’t make it tonight, but never fear, we’re still looking for them!”

“If Garmadon wants to bomb it, bomb it  _ now _ .” Astra yelled into her comm, already gesturing for the SOG troops to start retreating. “Before they all get mad and start hurting  _ us  _ too!”

They were a little too late, however, and even the shock waves couldn’t match the hurricane flying through the streets, followed by a deep rumbling under ground and a shower of ice shooting down on them. 

“Arsyn, Ty, get them the fuck out there right now. Big G, get your troops moving, holy shit  _ run  _ people.” Astra snapped, jumping onto her bike and revving it. “Let’s go, Duckman!”

She navigated the streets easily, weaving through the running crowds as she watched the elementals be consumed by their powers, overwhelmed. Jay’s eyes turned a shocking blue as a swirling web of lightning circled him. Arsyn was desperately trying to calm him down, and before Astra knew it Cole was running past, launching himself into the air with a feral growl as armour made out of rocks clung to his body. Zane was frozen over with ice, his shurikens spinning out mercilessly.

The most frightening thing that she would never admit was the light shining in their eyes instead of their normal eyes, tinted with the colour of their element as they wrecked the city even more than before. Arsyn finally resorted to clapping Vengestone cuffs of Jay which dulled down his power considerably, yet the other two were still running free. Astra had seen Lloyd picked up from Titanium as they headed for HQ, but there was one person she still needed to find.

Where was Kade?

She had to find him before they dropped their Blast Sap bombs, their final move against Wu with the materials they’d collected from his bombings.

“KADE!” She yelled, catching sight of him bent over someone, his hands gloved in a pastel orange as he healed a side wound of a citizen. 

“Astra!” He beamed up at her. “Your friends are really crazy with their powers.”

“They’re not my friends,” she replied quickly, tugging him away from the groaning patient. “We need to go before they drop the Blast Sap.”

“You’re destroying the city more?” His eyes widened.

She shook her head. “ _Garmadon_ is bombing the city. I don’t speak for him. We have to go _now_.”

“But so many people out here are hurt! If they see that my elemental power won’t hurt them maybe they’ll slack off yours.” Kade countered, resisting her efforts to drag him away.

“T-minus fifteen second to Blast Sap release.” said Maul, sounding a little too happy for her liking.

“Kade, we have to go  _ now _ . These people who you want to help hurt us, and there’s no point. They’re long gone by the time the Blast Sap will come—”

“Ten seconds, is everyone under cover?”

“Please, I don’t want them to be afraid of  _ you _ . You always act tough but you’re not something to be afraid of, Starra.”

“They have to be afraid of me, okay?” Astra snapped, hating the crack in her voice that gave it away. “We are not dying because you were too stubborn to—”

“Release! Hell yeah, let’s go—”

Her eyes flicked up in terror at the helicopters holding the thin bags full of Blast Sap that were primed and already falling towards them. The survivors and injured on the street cried out weakly in fear and Astra looked around for shelter, but Kade had chosen the  _ worst  _ spot to heal people smack bang in the middle of the road.

The Blast Sap was already falling and the bottom had split.

In a last ditch attempt, Astra threw her hands up and was vaguely aware of Kade doing the same, and a shimmering purple shield threaded with gold shielding them.

Still, it wasn’t enough.

_ You want to be a hero? Die like one. _

  
  


**A/N:**

**▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬**

❝  _ This is the end _

_ Hold your breath and count to ten _

_ Feel the earth moving and then _

_ Hear my heart burst again _

_ For this is the end  _ ❞

**_▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬_ **

**Skyfall,** **_Adele_ **

**_0:00━━━━━━━━━4:46_ **

  
  
  


_ p.s yes i know i used this for a oneshot already but the song is too fucking good for the drama. epilogue on thursday. also, 10k chapter pog? Also all creds to techno for that last line. it’s a crime we didn’t get his speeches. _


	44. epilogue

**kai**

Bedrest sucked.

Also, being stabbed sucked.

“Water, Smith?’ Offered a glowering man who went by the name Joker. He openly hated Kai, but it was okay because he hated pretty much every teenager who was in the medwing right now.

“Thanks,” Kai rasped, wincing as he slowly moved himself up to a sitting position. “How is everyone else doing?”

“Your girlfriend Skylor—”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“—your  _ friend  _ Skylor should be walking about by today. Nearly a week since they went...you know, but Obi’s the one who really monitors elemental healing.” Joker placed a plate with an omelette and some salad on his overbed table along with a cup of water. “Cole and Zane should be up at the same time as your friend, but Jay and Nya are still having their lungs looked at. Lloyd is already running around.” Joker shook his head with an exasperated sigh. “Your dad, um, should be finished healing about the same time as you.”

“So three weeks?”

“Bloody elemental healing,  _ yes _ , three weeks Smith. Have a somewhat reasonable day.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Kai muttered, and began eating slowly. He swore as his pinkie lit itself on fire and it caught onto the edge of his napkin. He pushed the overbed table to the side and leant back in the pillows. Kai kept his gaze straight ahead for the door. Waiting for someone to come in.

Who he was waiting for was a good question.

It was frustrating being stuck in bed when he was itching to get outside and do  _ anything _ . His injury wasn’t fatal, but it had punctured his liver and he bled. A lot. His friends hadn’t come by at all, Lloyd once or twice, but they were mostly confined to their own beds. Kai stared up at the ceiling morosely. These days, all alone, his thoughts were turning guilty quickly. He felt somewhat bad of the quick assumptions he’d made that had turned out to be wrong.

Still, he wanted revenge.

He wanted to see Harumi scream for what she’d done.

None of his friends even  _ remotely  _ liked her in the slightest, he was sure of that.

So no one would be sad. No one would mourn her, because Harumi had nothing to lose. Nothing she cared about. She was an artificial image, stone cold and relentless. If she had a weakness, Kai would find it.

**nya**

“Cafeteria?” Nya asked, hopping up from her chair and ignoring the soreness all over her body. Jay nodded and they set off quietly, her hand in his as they walked.

“Two bowls of tomato soup please. Oh, and bread.” Jay said hoarsely, his voice still shaky. More so than hers. They collected their food and sat down at a table, wolfing down the food along with the side of bread. Nya flexed her fingers before she picked up her cup of water, determined  _ not  _ to have it swirl out of her reach.

Their elemental powers had done a 180 on them, from going to absolutely nothing at all to everything at once. Garmadon said it was because it had been bottled up inside of them for such a long time that it was boiling over. Anytime she touched or went near water it either sloshed away or towards her eagerly and it was getting annoying. Mostly because she was trying to ignore her powers after she saw the aftermath of the last battle.

Skylor, Jay and Nya’s combined efforts with the water-lightning tactic had trashed the city in a soaking, electrocuted mess for over a week. The tripled power behind the shockwaves had nearly cleaved a building clean in half. But Wu was already fixing this, spry to contain the damage and have Ninjao return to his picturesque image as soon as possible.

She’d drowned people.

Nya felt it when she was taken over by that greedy surge of anger that flushed out all of her feelings into a torrent of rage that pummelled the city, the lost souls that collapsed to her power.

It felt good to release that energy, but she hated herself for it as well.

She knew Jay struggled with this too, that they’d both succumbed to the power and rendered many people numb for many days.

But they’d won, and in some messed up sense, Nya was willing to take whatever they got.

With her mother in Wu’s clawed hands, anything, even if it reeked of death, seemed like somber victory.

**cole**

“Damn it!” He hissed, tumbling off the stack of stones. Stretching again, he attempted to cross his legs on there and stay balanced atop a stone. This time he managed to keep the position for nearly thirty seconds before he face planted into the training mats.

He groaned and rolled onto his back, heaving a deep breath.

_ Inner balance is just as important as your outer, Cole. _

“I know, dad.” Cole muttered to himself as he got to his feet to stare at the rocks. “Where are you?”

The inner, admonishing voice that was his father’s reprimanding tone said nothing. It only conjured up what his brain thought his father would say, and in this case, there was clearly nothing to say. Cole packed up the training gear and then grabbed his climbing stuff, heading for the deep caves within the catacombs of the SOG base. It was nowhere near as good as climbing up high with fresh air and dizzy, gleeful heights, but it gave him a sense of calm.

He brushed off his hands, dropped his singlet to the ground and then coated his fingers in chalk before starting the bouldering piece in front of him. He hovered from time to time, trying to find a better hold on a crappy overhang and eventually found a slight crack he could dig his toes into. His sweaty hair fell into his eyes as he groaned and then stretched in a ridiculous split to reach his next point.

“Cole!”

“Fuck!” His fingers lost their grip and he fell onto his side with another curse. Getting to his feet, he spotted a SOG member standing by the natural arch entrance.

“Reaper wants everyone in the training room now.” They said, and then walked off in the opposite direction to where he thought was the room. It was a crazy maze of rooms that served as their underground base and Cole’s brain was already struggling to think properly these days.

“I’ll be there,” he sighed to no one. “As always.”

**lloyd**

Love was a stupid concept invented by humans to fufill an empty hole their heart, Lloyd had decided.

And he had been all for that stupid concept which had filled his heart and made him feel safe and loved.

Except Rumi had been the one to fill the hole and then she’d taken a shovel, beaten, dug up and spat on the hole in heart.

“Is everyone here?” Astra said, sliding a huge pyramid of stacked macarons in the centre of the table. “Enjoy my lack of sleep.”

Although Lloyd wasn’t sure what his terms were with her right now, the macarons looked unfairly good and he leant forwards to swipe one and nibble on the pale green dessert.

Astra stretched like a cat from her lazy position with her legs flopped on the Kade kid’s lap and looked to the people around the table. Skylor, Nya, Jay, Cole, Zane, Pixal, his father and her sister. Troya, or Destroyer as they called her. The one Harumi had laughed about in her first speech, judging by the way she stiffly held herself inside her cocoon of bandages.

“Questions, queries?” She yawned, watching everyone eat with eagle eyes. 

“What?” Nya asked in total confusion.

“We’re having a Q&A. I know there’s a lot of unsaid shit that’s gone on and we need to clarify some stuff.” Astra coughed inconspicuously and then looked to Cole who had cleared his throat loudly. 

“Were the Sons of Garmadon behind any of the murders?”

“Nope,” Astra replied cheerily, popping the ‘p’. “All up to Wu.”

“Who was Vance Spirdon, really? Wu said he was a double agent for  _ us  _ which is why I didn’t suspect Wu behind this. Why would he kill his own spy?” Pixal mused.

Destroyer spoke up instead of Astra. “His name was Riptide, he was sort of a triple agent. He met Wu a few years back working in the guy’s old tea shop but we don’t know the rest. He was sent to babysit Astra at school posing as the replacement history teacher but that didn’t go so well.”

“How did Wu get our parents?” Skylor raised a brow. “And where’s Ryu?”

“We don’t know about Chen or Borg, but we were en route back with the Smiths when Maya ran off. She tried to take Ray with her but...yeah. Ryu’s with our hounds. They’re all very protective of the runt.” Troya replied again. “We’re looking for Chris and Evan Julien, Misako Garmadon as well as Lou Brookstone since you guys have made requests, but we didn’t know if you just wanted to leave your, ahem, parents out of this, Walker.”

Jay frowned to himself. “Ask them, I think. It’s their choice since either way will endanger them because of me.”

“Are we going to keep using our elemental powers?” Nya asked, her voice raspy as it usually was now.

Astra scoffed. “Of course. The only weapon we have against Wu right now is fear, and they fear elementals. So we use it, but we use it wisely. The shockers are a thing of the past, don’t worry.”

Astra’s expression betrayed her though, when she flinched and her hands were momentarily cased in a purple glow. No one spoke about the moment when they thought Kade and Astra were about to die. They didn’t need to, but they didn’t want to either. It didn’t help either that neither Kade or Astra knew how they’d survived a direct hit from Blast Sap and it had scarred them both.

There was silence as they contemplated this. Lloyd didn’t really care since his powers had been less effective in battle than his messy strokes with his sabre. He knew the others hated the shocks that short circuited the powers that had ‘won’ them the final battle since it was painful and their elements, as his father had said, were boiling over from being stuffed up.

Except his. All Lloyd could do was make green balls that floated and were essentially anesthesia. 

Nya took a long gulp of water and a macaron before she spoke again. “Were you the one outside the monastery window?”

Troya nodded simply. “We had to get the ball rolling. We needed you to be suspicious of something, at least. The Lord could sense something was up with Wu so I was sent to watch. You didn’t see me after, did you?” Her last comment was almost proud, and if her face was uncovered from the mummy bandages, a smirk surely would have been there.

“I didn’t see you after that, no.”

Astra gave a macaron to Kade. “I’ll go. Why was your brother trying to kill my sister?”

Nya considered the question and Lloyd let her take it. “We saw who we thought was your sister following me. Harumi tried to kill me once, and she followed us plenty of times and we got sick of it. The turning point was when she stabbed my father, and Kai...Kai hasn’t got such a good grasp on his anger. He used to take it out in school fights but, you know.”

“I uh, have a confession to make.” Troya coughed into her hand discreetly. “Some of the time I was actually following you guys.”

“Makes sense,” Astra shrugged. “You always told me you were off to scout some siblings. Didn’t think it was actually  _ them _ , and half the time I saw you following me.” She pointed a snapped piece of dessert at her sister. “You need to get better at that. I nearly beat your score in stealth. Thorn told me.”

“Astra, did Garmadon ever tell you exactly  _ where  _ you got your powers from?”

“Answer the question, Cass.”

“I... _ was _ following a pair of siblings.” Troya repeated again, albeit more hesitantly and Lloyd sat forward in his chair.

“I was actually following you, Astra. And Lloyd. Because, you’re, uh, twins.”

**astra**

Her mind was nauseous with the conversation that had taken place just ten minutes prior, and Astra had made the semi truthful excuse of apologising to Kai Smith in the medwing.

Astra cleared her throat. “So. How do you feel?”

“Like I got stabbed.” Kai narrowed his eyes accusingly.

Astra shrugged. “Your fault for trying to kill my sister.”

“I told you already, I thought she was the one who tried to kill my father.”

“I’m sorry, do you want me to get you a prescription for some glasses?”

“Fuck off, Harlow.”

“I’m not apologising for something that isn’t my fault.”

“Then I’m not apologising for burning her.”

Astra looked at him, at the burning anger in his glower. “Be glad she knew who you were. They don’t call her Destroyer for nothing.” 

Kai was a strange person, she decided. A strange person with a suicidal hero complex. She’d had enough of this conversation already and she needed to go yell at her..at Cassie. She was halfway to the door when Kai spoke.

“You do know that you’re not a hero, right?” Kai hissed in a last ditch attempt.

She laughed, pitying the sadistic glare in his eyes.

“Moral of the story, Smith. There are no heroes. Only villains in the making.”

  
  


**_The End_ **


	45. final a/n

This is it. Holy bejeesus. Writing this right now, it’s 10:06 on a Tuesday, I just finished writing on a collab piece, and decided I should finish the epilogue and here I am. 42 chapters of actual writing and just over five months later, moral of the story is finished. It took me 313 pages and 130k words to get my act together, decide what I want to do with this book and actually complete something mediocre that I kinda like.

Looking back at the first chapters, I have to say they’re absolute trash. And not gonna lie, my writing has had some serious ups and downs throughout this whole thing and boy am I sorry about that. However, I am not sorry about all the turmoil and death I have caused because I have planned it out for so long.

I cannot tell you how strange it was for me, finally seeing everything coming together, linking up little details and writing short scenes ahead of time. A few of those I actually didn’t use, and something @alirxi always does with her story is to include some stuff she was gonna put in, so I’ll do that as well.

-Cole was supposed to find a letter from his mum about Wu  
-This was not supposed to turn out the way it did when i started city of secrets with this as a side piece (old story, forget about it please) and was just supposed to be full of drama  
-There was supposed to be a prom, but I started killing people off  
-I loved the secret room thing but now I hate it  
-Master Chen was supposed to go to hospital and Skylor would blame Wu for it but...yeah  
-Harumi was actually supposed to go with the ninja (as I’ll call them) to the monastery for bonding time with Lloyd  
-Not supposed to be a series, not at all lmfao

Gosh, I really don’t know what to say. Oh, I’m not editing this book, and I’ll tell you why. I’m very much aware that most of it is trashy and I should have edited a lot more between my chock full life, but I tried to do that and work on the sequel to city of secrets and that flopped so badly oh my gosh, but I really just don’t have the time.

Which does lead me on to my next point. I know how crappy it is as a reader to find out the sequel of a book isn’t coming out in a while, and I hate to do this to y’all but man I need a break. I got skipped up a year randomly, corona hit my country with a bus and my mental health hasn’t been going swimmingly but everything at some point as to get better or Astra will hit karma with a bat.

So I’m taking a month hiatus off the Songs of Death series to plan out To Rule The World and to get some rest. But don’t worry Ninjago readers, @Iva951 and I do have a Ninjago x Among Us collab that will start getting released soon so follow me for updates! Short chapters but big brains, you know? I also have a Christmas collab coming up for a totally different fandom (the medoran chronicles, which I recommend reading), adding to the load as well.

Not to mention I decided to do my IB personal project on writing my own story, but let’s ignore that and party! Your girl finally got her crap together and we finished Moral Of The Story! I will upload the introduction, a/n and maybe a prologue for rtw in the next week or so, so follow me to keep updated!

In case you need even more Ninjago content check out my oneshots! I’ll be posting on my conversations page to update you guys on the sequel. (wattpad). so please do interact with me I need to practice socialisation again. 

And finally I have so many people left to thank - you guys. When I started this story as a side piece (haha funny) it was something to bounce off when I wasn't working on another WIP. One day, when maybe ten chapters had been released, it had blown up (kinda) on ao3. At least, it had for my results. I finished City of Secrets a while later, still uploading chapters while this au expanded, my planning got better and i was getting all these little details and stories together. Then I decided to drop COS, and focus completely on Moral of the Story.

And here I am, 5k reads later with a crackhead plot and terrible planning, but with you guys commenting it kept my motivation going. I don’t honestly reply to a lot of comments - I’m hella busy atm, but I want you to know I love everyone one of you for seeing this story through to the end, and every vote, every comment and every read makes me happy to see. And I know it may not seem like I care, but every comment means so much. 

See y’all in one month in To Rule The World, Songs of Death #2.

-dommie out


	46. sequel!

**FIRST A/N FOR TO RULE THE WORLD IS OUT, INTRODUCTION AND PROLOGUE WILL BE OUT SHORTLY. CHECK OUT MY PAGE (drop a follow hehe) AND GO TO THE THINGY NAMED 'TO RULE THE WORLD' AND ADD IT TO YOUR LIBRARY/SUB/BOOKMARK BECAUSE YES POG.**

**i have to go cry over my french, maths and science work folks. have a good day :) -dommie out**

**Author's Note:**

> so I hope you enjoyed moral of the story! yes, the title is based off the song by ashe.


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